Searching for Refugees

Settlement Services provide holistic support to newcomers to Oxford to ease their integration into our community including:
* Needs assessment
* Development of a comprehensive settlement plan to address any barriers faced
* Orientation to life in Canada and Oxford
* Referral to any and all appropriate programs and services including but not limited to English as a second language, health care, mental health services, housing, nutrition, transportation, Income support, accreditation, interpretation, spiritual, recreation, community connections, volunteerism, conversation cafes, mentoring opportunities, education and employment
* On going case management and support throughout the transition process to integration

Settlement Services - Free help and support for new immigrants to Canada providing assistance to individuals and families with healthcare, education, language, and more. The services help new immigrants live, work, and settle into their new community. Immigrant Services staff speak a variety of languages and will help find answers to questions, discover programs and services as well as help with unfamiliar processes.

​Some of the services offered: completing forms and documents, personal and family settlement process, immigration and legal issues, Canadian life and culture; employment and education; licensing and accreditation, interpretation and translation, access to programs and services and more!

Offers invited lectures about Islamic topics, world religion class assistance provided upon request from community schools, family reconciliation, one-to-one personal counselling from an Islamic perspective, assist newcomers and immigrants and open houses

Settlement and support services for immigrants, refugees, women, youth, and seniors. Provide orientation about Canadian culture and other topics such as Education, Employment and Health Care. Help immigrants with documents and processes, referrals and resources to access available services. Language improvement program. Offices in Stratford, Goderich, Listowel, Exeter, Woodstock and Toronto.

Settlement services support the settlement and integration of newcomers in the community, recognizing that successful integration is a two way process that requires adjustments for both newcomers and receiving communities. This can include assistance with forms, referrals, orientation, translation and interpretation. From something as simple as getting an Ontario drivers license to something as complex as how to sponsor family members to come in Canada, this service can help.

Offer a wide range of culturally and linguistically appropriate services to Canadian-born citizens, naturalized citizens, permanent residents, refugees, international students and temporary foreign workers to help them settle and integrate into the community.

Successful integration is a two way process that requires adjustments for both newcomers and the community; settlement workers work closely with other agencies, businesses and all levels of government to ensure this happens.

Assists clients with issues they are encountering in adapting to their new home and ensuring that agency services are accessible to them regardless of how long they have been in Canada. Offers settlement services in-house and throughout the community.

Many of the Settlement Counsellors work out of branches of both the Waterloo and Kitchener Public Libraries to better reach the community.

Drop-in-homework club for newcomer youth 13-24 years old

Immigrant services that support successful settlement and integration into Canada and in the community

Services include:

• introduction to Canadian life and culture
• one-to-one advisement and support
• help with various immigration forms and documents
• settlement information and referrals to community programs, services and resources

Community Connections services and activities help newcomers establish new social and professional networks. Community Connections helps to organize the following:

• english conversation groups
• homework support for newcomer youth
• peer mentorship groups for newcomer youth and adult

Other Initiatives Include:

• 'Youth Fusion' - peer-mentorship newcomer youth group
• Youth In Transition Worker Program
• Youth Gambling Awareness Program

English speaking skills group for newcomers to Canada. Meet new friends, learn about library services, talk about your community, culture and customs.

• program is run in conjunction with the Brantford Public Library

A webpage created to assist newcomers who settle in Brantford-Brant. The webpage provides online information on services that can help immigrants build a new life in Brantford-Brant

Core programs:

• Counseling services on a sliding scale
• Leadership programs for women
• Youth mental health programs
• Programs for refugees and newcomers such as English Conversation circles and Yoga classes twice a month
• Programs for kids such as Healing through Art and Healing through Music
  

Levant Canada is a non-profit organization that supports refugees fleeing crises and promotes newcomers' empowered integration into Canadian life. Levant privately sponsors refugees seeking safety in Canada. Through artistic, cultural, and athletic programming, facilitate newcomers' integration into Canadian life and encourage exchange between newcomers and established Canadians. Programs and events foster intercultural dialogue, create a sense of belonging in the community, and support newcomers' pride in their home cultures. Visit website or contact us to learn more about our programs and activities, including:

• Levant Soccer Club
• Steps Dance Club
• Community Dabke Group
• Refugee Sponsorship
• Levant's Annual Cultural Event
• And more

Welcome and support people in the community seeking refuge in Canada by:

• providing assistance with the refugee claim process
• accessing a network of settlement supports
• advocating for a fair and just environment for refugees in Canada

**This organization DOES NOT offer immigration or sponsorship support.

A place where all new English Language Learners and First Nation, Métis, or Inuit students and their families are welcomed into the Grand Erie District School Board community

Services offered (SK - Grade 12):

• language and cultural interpretation
• assessment of student's current level of English language and math skills
• recommendations to appropriate programs
• introduction to the Ontario school system

Public education provider * offers a range of educational programs including:

• junior and senior kindergarten, elementary, secondary and adult education
• French Immersion
• alternative education programs including: continuing education * night school and summer school * special education programs and supports services to address the needs of exceptional students and those experiencing difficulties
• special Education Newsletters

Records Centre - Collects and retains school records of students who graduated or left a Thames Valley public secondary school more than five years ago * issues transcripts for a fee from schools in London, Elgin and Middlesex * 519-452-2000 ext 21078 * recordcentre@tvdsb.on.ca

Address:
951 Leathorne St
London, ON N5Z 3P7

One World International Welcome Centre - Assists newcomer students and their families to access education services across the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) * introduction to Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) * orientation to TVDSB Secondary Schools * conducts assessments for literacy, math, and language skills * assessments help determine program/school placement

Anishnaabe Skiniiw Centre - Alternative School - Offers First Nation students an alternative education high school program * designed to give students who have not succeeded in traditional schools a chance at pursuing a secondary diploma

GA Wheable Centre - Adult and Continuing Education - Adult and continuing education centre

Wiingashk Centre - Alternative Secondary School - Alternative secondary school program * follows secondary school curriculum in addition to culturally appropriate programming, including life skills and aboriginal cultural teachings * goal to enhance identity, self-esteem, confidence, and aboriginal way of life

Services and Programs:

• Balaclava Street Adult Learning Centre - Adult and Continuing Education
• Blossom Park Education Centre - Adult and Continuing Education - Thames Valley Alternative Secondary School
• ESL (English as a Second Language) - St Thomas
• FESPA (Family and Education Support Project) - English as a Second Language Program
• First Nations, Métis and Inuit Team
• Gateway Program (Upgrading) - Thames Valley District School Board - Gateway Program - Literacy and Basic Skills
• Gateway Program (Upgrading) - Thames Valley District School Board - Gateway Program - Literacy and Basic Skills
• Gateway Program (Upgrading) - Thames Valley District School Board - Gateway Program - Literacy and Basic Skills
• Hutton House Learning Centre - Literacy and Basic Skills
• Oneida Training Centre - Gateway Program (Upgrading), Literacy and Basic Skills
• Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program
• Strathroy Adult Learning Centre - Adult and Continuing Education
• Tillsonburg Adult Learning Centre - Adult and Continuing Education

The Mentorship Program brings internationally-trained professionals together with established professionals for a series of in-person and online meetings to discuss their profession and create an individualized career plan. Mentorship is a one-on-one match between newcomer participants (mentee) and program volunteers (mentors). These strategic mentoring matches allow newcomer mentees to learn about Canadian workplace culture, make critical networking connections, and learn how to increase their marketability by leveraging their skills and previous international experience. By the end of the mentoring journey, newcomer mentees have developed a more relevant and strategic career plan to continue their career in Canada with confidence.

Provides information and assistance in the following areas:

• Completing forms and documents
• Personal and family settlement process
• Immigration and legal issues
• Employment and education
• Interpretation and translation
• Canadian life and culture
• Information, advisement and support
• Access to programs and services

The program provides support, information, orientation and referrals to newcomers regardless of their status in Canada to help them with immediate settlement needs such as housing, health care, education, employment, the legal system, immigration issues etc.

Service is provided at LUSO main office as well as at the Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre one day per week.

School Settlement workers are assigned to elementary and secondary schools that have high numbers of families new to Canada

In elementary schools, staff work with parents * in secondary schools, staff work with youth and parents

Program is a offered in Thames Valley District School Board and London District Catholic School Board schools * workers can work with families and youth regardless of their status in Canada to support settlement needs and successful connections to schools and the education system

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a global, non-profit organization that strives to share compassion for all by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and justice. In the Waterloo region, MCC walks toward reconciliation with Indigenous Neighbours, alongside newcomers building a new life in Canada through refugee sponsorship, and support those impacted by crime or facing the realities of poverty and homelessness.

The primary focus of the school-based settlement service is to assist parents and their children with settlement needs through a systematic outreach to all new arrivals, needs assessment and action planning, orientation and information on school and community, referrals and assistance to access other community services.

• Clubs and after-school activities
• Connect to school staff
• Homework and academic supports
• Information and Mothers' groups
• Referrals to important community resources
• Rights and responsibilities
• School registration
• Youth-related issues

Provide settlement and employment services to assist immigrant and refugees

• Cultural Diversity Program
• Language Interpretation
• English Language Assessment and Referral Services
• Settlement Services
• Employment Resource Centre
• Language Interpretation
• English Language Assessment and Referral Centre

Coordinated Language Assessment and Referral Centre

• Eligibility screening, language skills assessment and referral to government-funded English language programs including Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC), LINC Home Study, English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, Enhanced Language Training (ELT), Occupation-Specific Language Training (OSLT), and Specialized Language Training (SLT)

The Immigration Partnership helps facilitate successful settlement, integration and community involvement of immigrants and refugees in Waterloo Region.