January 29, 2019—Toronto, ON—Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) works with many partners in the delivery of services to newcomers to Canada, and supports their integration into Canadian communities. IRCC is actively working to improve these settlement services through the Service Delivery Improvements funding stream and will be providing funding of $1,690,940 to Kids Help Phone to help deliver these important services.
The project with Kids Help Phone will address the well-being and mental health of newcomer youth. The 1-800 number will provide culturally responsive, immediate mental health services free of charge for young newcomers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Counsellors will receive cultural competency training and interpretation services will be available in the most in-demand language as part of the 6 month trial. The project aims to reduce barriers to health services, improve mental health outcomes for newcomer youth, and increase responsiveness to the needs of newcomers. The project will also refer newcomer youth to trusted language and job training services to help them in their integration journey.
IRCC's Service Delivery Improvement Fund is a dedicated funding stream of over $30 million per year, devoted to service delivery improvement, innovation and experimentation to continue to find better ways to deliver services to newcomers, meet the needs of newcomer clients and support the integration process.
"I'm proud that the Government of Canada is working with organizations like Kids Help Phone to provide high-quality settlement services for newcomers across the country. Finding new and better ways to help newcomers succeed in their journey benefits all Canadians, by strengthening our labour force and the economy."
– The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
"Thanks to the Service Delivery Improvement fund, projects such as this one undertaken by Kids Help Phone will improve IRCC's understanding of the needs of newcomer youth and support their successful integration into Canadian communities."
– Adam Vaughan, Member of Parliament for Spadina—Fort York
Quick facts
SDI funding is a dedicated stream within the Settlement Program of almost $150 million over five years. The funding was allocated to the Department through the 2017 Immigration Levels Plan, and is devoted to testing new approaches to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Program.
Following the first Expression of Interest process for SDI launched in fall 2017, IRCC is now funding over 100 projects across the country. All projects will be complete by March 31, 2021.
There are 7 funding streams under the SDI: language acquisition; employment; youth supports; harnessing volunteers and supporting capacity building in the settlement sector; pay for performance; newcomer well-being and programming to support vulnerable clients; and research and analysis to drive innovation and understand the user experience.
