Long-term stable and sufficient funding is the key to ensuring settlement services can operate to their full potential in New Brunswick says the executive director of the Multicultural Association of Greater Fredericton.
Lisa Bamford De Gante is reacting to a report from the Association for Canadian Studies, which suggests there is often a disconnect between Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the settlement organizations delivering programming at the community level, especially when it comes to funding.
While the report is highly critical of the five-year funding cycle used by the federal department, De Gante points out it’s actually a relatively new process. She adds “it is definitely a step in the right direction.”
“We used to get a one year funding allocation and then it was extended to three years,” she explains.
De Gante says when there was an annual funding cycle, the organization was forced to spend more time on making sure the dollars were in place to keep the lights on than they would like, often at the expense of programming.
“It’s also extremely difficult to undertake any long-range planning,” she says.
The report says even though the five year plan is in place, the funding still needs to be approved each year by the department.
De Gante agrees with the concerns raised in the report regarding labour issues faced by the settlement groups. The report explains many settlement organizations aren’t able to provide workers with pension benefits or guarantee long-term job security due to the five year funding cycle.
“We have an added element here in New Brunswick because we are a bilingual province,” she says. “Our bilingual workers are often sought after by the federal and provincial government and quite frankly they have deeper pockets.”
An aging population and a declining birth rate is translating into a labour shortage in virtually every sector, not only in New Brunswick but across the country. De Gante says staff retention is important when trying to offer programming over the long term.
Several anonymous respondents were quoted in the report as critical of the fact the funding model focuses on outputs rather than impact and outcomes, and meeting targets rather than modernizing, innovating, and measuring long-term successes.
‘Counting the numbers’ is particularly unhelpful for rural settlement agencies who don’t have large numbers, in which case the quality of settlement support should be the primary focus, the report says.
During a roundtable discussion on new funding models held as part of the report’s development, a number of participants suggested engaging private organizations such as banks, universities, and social development initiatives.
Another suggestion was to use a more bottom up approach that would see successful projects piloted on a small scale and then ramped up if they proved to be successful.
The report, divided into four sections—building capacity, best practices, funding models, and improving attraction/accessibility of settlement services—provides a base to expand on the solutions uncovered, according to the Association for Canadian Studies, which conducted the research funded by the WES Mariam Assefa Fund.
“We ultimately intend to pilot projects to address the issues and test solutions and recommendations to improve settlement and economic outcomes,” the study says.
