Thank you very much from St. John's. I am very honoured to be part of this committee.
My wife and I came to Canada in 2002 as refugees, thanks to Canadian generosity. In 2004 I joined the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council in St. John's, which is a charity helping immigrants and refugees and Canadians as well. We deal mainly with issues pertaining to immigration, as well as anything from employment all the way to health, education, housing, and whatnot.
From my experience, our main issue in Newfoundland is that we don't have access—we are a small organization—to core funding, some funding that could help small organizations to thrive and help newcomers to be part of the community. We have been working with donations and small grants, but still we feel really discouraged that there is no support for small organizations.
Here in Newfoundland and Labrador, our newcomer population is not as big as in other provinces. We feel that the low retention here is due mainly to the lack of information and access to services once you are outside of the mandate of the federally funded immigration service that is provided.
There is also a big need among multicultural organizations—the Chinese association, the Afghan association, the Philippine organization, the Syrians, the Colombians, and so on and so forth—to establish themselves and begin the process of being part of the community. That requires a lot of support, and that is something we don't have in Newfoundland. We would love to see more activities that would encourage small organizations and ethnic organizations to be part of the whole process of making Canada our home.
On another topic, the process for internationally trained workers to gain recognition of their credentials in Canada is still confusing and slow. Professionals are really discouraged when they to find meaningful jobs, mainly because their qualifications are not being recognized readily and on time. That is another issue that requires support in the province. It requires more accessible information. Information is really scattered. Professionals have a big issue trying to find exactly what they need and how to carry on with this process.
Finally, mental health is another issue that requires strengthening in our province. Mental health is still in the early stages of being acknowledged as an issue that prevents newcomers to feel at home and to feel welcome. Services and supports are just now starting to consider that newcomers can develop different types of mental issues, or are arriving with them.
That is more or less what the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council, which is the organization for which I have been working for the last number of years, considers as key elements for us newcomers to feel welcome and to really feel we can be part of the community.
Thank you.