Thank you for this question.
I don't think the supports for newcomers are sufficient at this point. Newcomers are particularly vulnerable when they come to Canada. They don't speak the language, they don't know how the system works and they don't know where the resources are. As I mentioned in my opening statement, it's critical that they get the information sooner rather than later. As soon as they arrive in Canada, it's critical that they get information on the resources available, on Canada's laws around gender-based violence, and so on. That is needed.
Just to give you an example, when we had the influx of Syrian refugees, we had lots of referrals coming in for violence-related issues after a while. We asked ourselves, “Did they get any information about what their rights were and where to go for support?” We held focus groups among this group, and what we found was that they had no information.
It's critical that newcomer women coming into Canada receive that information, preferably right at the ports of entry and at their adult education schools. There must be some curriculum to tackle this, and information spread within the community, where, if they went for a doctor's appointment, they could easily pick up some resources in their languages. That needs to be there.
There are gaps. We need to reach out more, absolutely, to newcomers, because they are exceptionally vulnerable when they come to the country.