Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 7th, 2016

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

I want to thank everyone, specifically Ms. Tan. Options Community Services is in my riding and, in fact, one of their offices is above my office. I welcome you from Vancouver, and I welcome Ms. Ferne and Mr. Daud.

I've been very enthused not just by what I've heard from you three here today but from the past witnesses. We met members of the Austrian delegation, but I think we're one of the only countries in the world where the enthusiasm of Canadians to accept refugees exceeds the number of refugees we're willing to take. Everyone thought that we were not going to be able to meet the targets or wondered how we would accommodate them. The most frustrating problem we've had is people on wait-lists to receive refugees, and they're not able to get them fast enough. That's a good problem to have.

Ms. Tan, I understand that your frustration or need at the present time is to get more funding to help volunteer coordination. What I'm hearing, and you can correct me, is that there are a lot of volunteers who want to help, but to coordinate that, you need more funding help. Is that right?

[Khim Tan]

Yes, and thank you for asking that.

I safely say that I don't only speak for Options Community Services. I know that across the board many settlement agencies traditionally use volunteers. That's part of the way we provide programming for newcomers, but because of the increased number of Syrian newcomers and the immediate needs that we're seeing, we have limited staff hours to manage the flow of volunteers coming in.

As you say, even though it is a good problem, we want to make sure that we can gain the support of volunteers, as many as we can, so that they don't start losing interest.

Again, the answer is yes. Options Community Services, as well as other agencies that I know, are quite strapped with very few staff hours to manage the influx of volunteers. Many of us have a special email or hotline number catered to receiving all these volunteer requests, and there are just so many responses and requests on a daily basis that we have to get to.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

You stated that IRCC had said they are increasing ESL and the LINC program funding and you're waiting for that. Have you made a proposal with respect to this informal language training, the conversational training? Has there been a proposal to teach this type of English language training?

[Khim Tan]

Thank you for asking.

We do know that IRCC is trying really hard to increase formal language learning through LINC. We have communicated, and with the short-term Syrian refugee funding pockets, we have been able to increase our conversation circles as best we can.

Again, I think there are many areas that we can improve on with many more of these types of conversation circles. I would say what we're trying to do is really not have a cookie-cutter type of program, but focus circles on youth, children, women, and men.

We have lots of ideas, enough volunteers—wonderful retired educators who've stepped up to the plate—but lack of funding to create more space. I think one of the many pieces that people might not realize is that, even though we have free hands in terms of volunteers offering the capacity, a lot of agencies lack the funding to acquire more space for these activities.

The very short answer is yes, we've reached out to IRCC. They've managed to offer short-term funding. Again, we're also trying to impress upon them that short-term funding is good, of course, but longer-term funding to sustain these activities is really important whilst the newcomers wait for formal language training.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Thank you.

Ms. Ferne, you stated that post-traumatic stress disorder was a big thing, that we need to address that. Do you think the federal health program that's now been reinstated, where refugees get the extended benefits in terms of health, is helpful for that, or do you think it's still lacking in terms of getting them the health care they need when they arrive?

[Jessica Ferne]

While I'm not an expert on the availability of the services for that, I would say any opportunity to expand access to health services for refugees is key. In our experience, and the experiences of our partner agencies too, learning to navigate the health system is a challenge for everyone. Certainly, when we work internationally, one of things we always look to do is find ways to integrate, where appropriate, mental health services into existing services that communities access. This is to make it more confidential, more discreet, to be able to find ways to connect with people in more accessible and safe places. I think, absolutely, it's key to offer health services and to make those as widely available as possible, inform people about them. But I would suggest as well that where appropriate, there might be opportunities to weave an awareness of what services are available and how to access them into the other essential services that many refugees need to access first or are going to go to first as a great way of connecting people with those programs.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Thank you.

Dr. Daud, from your presentation it seems that you've handled most of the challenges very well. You seem to have a great success rate in housing everyone and getting them jobs.

You're finding that unskilled workers are actually getting jobs faster than those who come with trades or skill abilities. Can you perhaps elaborate on that challenge? How can we improve their ability to integrate faster?

[Dr. Aslam Daud]

The professionals, for example, engineers and doctors, we have a couple of engineers who have come, and they're struggling to find a job when Canadian experience is lacking. I think it would help to have a program where they're invited to have a mentorship with an organization, or to have special funding available to give them employment.

Unskilled or—

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

You have 10 seconds, Mr. Daud.

[Dr. Aslam Daud]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Ms. Boucher, you have the floor for seven minutes.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

I will ask a question in French. Maybe you'll need the translation.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here.

I am not a regular on the committee, but the topic is really interesting.

Ms. Ferne, you talked about children a lot. We know that refugees experience things differently when they arrive in Canada, depending on whether they are adults or children. Two Syrian refugees have just settled in Boischatel, in my constituency. They speak neither English or French. So that is a problem.

Some of the children we are taking in have not been in school for a long time. What is the challenge of placing them in a school situation where they feel safe? They were not safe in their own country. Canada is a very safe country, but how do the children adapt? Is their experience different from that of the adults?

[Jessica Ferne]

We're talking about a generation of kids who have gone through this conflict over the last six years. There are some children who know only this conflict, when you're talking about very young children. Then you're talking about older youth, who have had their education severely disrupted and their opportunities for the future disrupted. There, I think, many young people particularly feel a keen sense of frustration and also high levels of trauma. As you say, they're coming into our school system, and even though there's a lot of opportunity here it can be really difficult to fit in and to navigate that.

For me, I think what's absolutely vital, first of all, is to recognize that youth need youth-only space. Youth need youth-friendly space that's targeted to their particular needs. Youth will be navigating all sorts of challenges around schooling, around work, around personal relationships, around the unique health needs of young people that are different from children and different from adults. We recognize this in the social services we provide and a lot of our partners provide.

To me, key to this is integration and specialized services that recognize that refugee youth will have particular needs relating to all of these different areas. They need a safe, targeted space for them in their own language to be able to feel comfortable talking about these issues.

I would also add that we know that these youth will have different faiths and beliefs and experiences, and they'll need a lot of information to be presented in a safe and respectful manner relevant to that. Again, peer-to-peer networks are a great way to tap into that and also to tap into the powerful volunteer base we have among Canadian youth and among refugee youth who really want to find a meaningful way to get involved. There's often no power like talking to a peer, someone who knows what you've gone through or can empathize in some way. Where possible, support for those kinds of programs can be very valuable.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

We often hear about federal support, but, in your communities, in each of your provinces, do you get assistance from the provincial government in order to integrate Syrian refugees? The federal level is doing its share, but the provinces must do theirs too. Is there dialogue with the various provincial governments to help with integrating the refugees?

[Jessica Ferne]

I don't know that I would speak in the best way to the dialogue with the provinces, because our work here has always been in support of existing settlement services and SAH agencies. We support their work, just as we do overseas.

I know that a big part of the demand on their time is the constant communication and negotiation. Information is changing all the time. We've stepped in with some of our partners to help relieve the burden on their staff time so that they can devote those resources to managing that communication and we can take on some of the responsibilities around, for example, working with sponsorship groups. That has made us aware of those incredible demands that groups are having to navigate with both hands. It's a lot, and we're happy to step in and relieve some of that. We recognize that it's a huge burden.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Okay.

That's fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Ms. Kwan, for seven minutes, please.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses.

Ms. Tan, you mentioned that the services of Options were primarily for refugees settling in Surrey and Delta and in those areas. You didn't speak to the issue around housing and the high cost of housing. I know that in the Lower Mainland a lot of the Syrian refugees, particularly the GARs, have gone out to Surrey and Delta and beyond because of the lack of affordable housing. Even if they are able to settle in Surrey or Delta, they're often actually under-housed. Their family size is far larger than the accommodations they are able to attain, and then, with the welfare rate they have, that subsumes a large sum..

I'm wondering if you could elaborate on the issue around housing and what you're seeing there.

[Khim Tan]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan. I think all you said is true.

As an example, when the first group of refugees arrived in Vancouver, many of them were housed in temporary housing in the Vancouver area. Many of the hotels were housing them. It got to a point where, many months after their arrival, they weren't finding housing. Then, 30 families were earmarked and moved to Surrey to yet another temporary housing situation. There was a huge hotel. We could accommodate them.

Thirty families were there for well over a month and there were three agencies, i.e., Options Community Services, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., and DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society, all major settlement service providers, were charged with helping them find housing. It took a while. As you say, many of the family units are large.

The housing east of Vancouver in Surrey is less expensive but still very expensive in proportion to the financial support they get, as you said yourself. It takes up the bulk of the allowance. Regardless, it took a long time, but we did a lot of back and forth with landlords to find them housing.

One of the challenges is also the refugees' expectations, lack of information, and lack of facts. It took a while for us to explain the housing situation in greater Vancouver and in Surrey as well. It took a while to house them. We did find accommodation within Surrey for the bulk of them. There were a few families who did not manage to find housing. They were turned back to Vancouver, to the Immigrant Services Society of BC. That is the RAP service provider.

I want to agree with you, in that when we were finding housing, it was really difficult to find affordable housing within Surrey, and we did try to work with our counterparts in Langley and beyond to find housing as well.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I wonder if I could interject. Going forward, month 13 kicks in for a lot of the Syrian refugees. There are some accommodations where the landlord had made special provisions. What happens in month 13? That is really now my primary concern with respect to how they are going to survive with the limited resources that they have, and especially in the context where they can't even get into an ESL class. The prospect of getting employment is severely limited because of that.

[Khim Tan]

I agree. Maybe I should also say that when we move them from temporary housing, i.e., the hotel, to permanent housing, i.e., a basement suite or an apartment, I think in the minds of the refugees and also for ourselves as service providers, they are still temporary accommodations, because of the question of the sustainability of the rent rates in the long term, as you said. Really, a lot of them sort of make do with the size of the suites that we found them. Certainly, in their minds, this is still temporary, until they figure out how to settle permanently.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Would you support the call for a national affordable housing program not just for Syrian refugees but for others as well?

[Khim Tan]

Definitely.

With settlement service providers, I have to stress that, of course, we're trying to deal with immediate needs, but again, we do our part to lobby for the national housing strategies, to accommodate a growing number of refugees as well. As you said yourself, many of them will take a while before they actually become independent and are able to afford housing.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

It is likewise on the issue around poverty. This has surfaced on many occasions with other witnesses on different days. People are really having a tough time trying to survive on the income assistance rate, and that's irrespective of whether they are Syrian refugees or others on the income assistance rate across the country.

Would you also then support a call for a national strategy to address poverty, and perhaps for the minister to convene a meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts to address this issue?

[Khim Tan]

The answer is yes.

I want to say that what we're trying to do immediately is help, because the refugees are aware that one year will go by really fast. We're trying to help them as best we can to budget and to survive on the little they have, because they know that moving forward that's the little that they'll have for a while to come.