Emotional Wellness, Varied Immigrant Settlement Programming in Western Canada and Service Responsiveness

Abstract

Settlement services in Canada have only recently started offering support and programming for emotional wellness issues faced by newcomers to Canada (immigrants who have been in Canada for less than 5 years). Funding for such services has steadily increased over the past 5 years, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Greater investment in ensuring the emotional wellness of immigrants is spurring new settlement services and programming. These include a wide array of configurations and approaches across the different geographies of Canada. This is evidence that providing such services for newcomers is in the early stages of implementation, characterised by experimentation and precarity. Mental and emotional wellness programming is in contrast with more established services, such as those meant to provide language learning, where common assessment tools, measures of proficiency and progress are well established. With funding from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), this chapter features data from a 2-year project that examined emotional wellness services for immigrants offered in four cities in western Canada between 2018 and 2020. The study used surveys and interviews with clients and focus groups with front-line staff to understand client needs and discern the issues and impact of emotional wellness programming. Findings include apparent limitations in staff capacity and expertise to provide help when needed, the inappropriateness of service models meant for other contexts and complex funding requirements resulting in issues of access and the overall precarity of such programming.

Citation

Suva, C. and Palova, K. (2023), "Emotional Wellness, Varied Immigrant Settlement Programming in Western Canada and Service Responsiveness", Arrocha, W. and Xeni, E. (Ed.) Migrations and Diasporas (Emerald Interdisciplinary Connexions), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 185-200. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83797-146-620231012