Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think with the population aging, with people retiring and the huge succession issue the government will be facing, they may not have a choice. However, absolutely, the government can definitely be doing more. I don't know where the employment equity program is. I know that the

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Again, we know that our immigrant and refugee youth are facing tremendous pressures and facing tremendous differences in our 21st century culture in the achievements and the things that are expected of them. In addition to that, when you combine that with the cultural expectation

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you so much for that question, and it's a pleasure to be here today. One of the things we are aware of happening in Quebec is that, again, they have not had their level of settlement funding increased for many years. In fact, some of the agencies are operating with a very

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The difference, as I was saying, was due to the federal-provincial immigration agreements—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  —and the fact that in B.C. only 47% of the funds that B.C. receives actually go to direct settlement funding. Therefore, the other 53% of funding goes into general revenues. For example, those funds then can build a road in B.C., or be put into Whistler, or whatever. Because thos

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. I think the settlement and integration of new immigrants and of refugees are very different, based on, obviously, the education, where the person comes from, and whether they have family and friends at their destination. That has been shown in many studies to be a cri

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for asking that question. We as a sector, of course, and particularly our B.C. colleagues, are extremely concerned about that. In fact, AMSSA, which is the umbrella organization in B.C., has requested a meeting with the minister who is responsible for immigration there

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Exactly, and we're very concerned about that. This is a prime example of what we believe is something the federal government needs to take another look at in terms of how we fence in those dollars.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In Ontario there's a completely different federal-provincial agreement. Fortunately for immigrants who come to Ontario, federal government programs are still delivered through the federal department.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Could I also respond?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think one part of your question was also regarding the comparative services study, and that with the issue of the federal-provincial immigration agreements, how does one look at that or achieve that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The overall question the committee has to ask itself, or Canadians have to ask ourselves, is should we have national standards for some of these national programs. If the answer to that is yes, then is it acceptable to us as Canadians that regardless of which community or which p

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Currently we are not and the sector is not consulted in the area of funding or federal-provincial immigration agreements. These are all technical things that happen between the two departments, federal and provincial. However, I believe there is a role for community groups and f

Citizenship and Immigration committee  There's been no growth in funding for settlement services. It remained static in the previous 12 years prior to the announcement in April of this year from this government, and we are now beginning to see those funds roll out.