Madam Chair, as we've noted, the government increased settlement funding in 2005-06 to about $600 million. This year we will spend, I believe, $584.5 million on settlement and integration services, so about $600 million. With the increase in funding, we have been able to focus in clear detail on the three primary needs in the settlement and integration services. I'd recommend the following priority in terms of the biggest barriers to achieving good integration outcomes in Canada.
The first is knowledge of an official language, knowledge of English or French. When immigrants arrive and they have difficulty communicating in English or French, it is the biggest single barrier to effective integration both in the community and certainly within the workforce. I should pause there for a moment. As you'll see, we spend about 45% of our budget on language training and supports around language training.
Another area we focus on or we talk about in effective integration relate to the recognition of foreign work experience. There are difficulties in employers recognizing foreign work experience, so programming that's focused on employment-related supports or community connections help to overcome some of that.
Finally, the last barrier to integration would be the problems of having foreign credentials recognized, certainly in regulated occupations.
That increase in funding has allowed us to focus more fully on those three big barriers to successful integration, and also on the breadth of our services across the country.