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Settlement Planning

sttmtdiagram2The Settlement Plan is a plan detailing what you and members of your group will do to orient and support the newcomer(s) during the sponsorship. It will provide your group with a framework for working through the many details of who will do what, when, how, with what resources and where those resources will come from. This Plan should be used as a guide with the understanding that circumstances may change and that it may need to be revised and updated to reflect these changes during the settlement period. Your settlement planning should also take into account the settlement needs of non-accompanying family members listed on the IMM 0008, as your group will be expected to sponsor them as well if they submit an IMM 0008 within one year of the arrival of the principal applicant.

Being prepared involves learning about all the local resources available. This may require you to research about anything that will help you accomplish the tasks.

For the duration of the sponsorship, as a member of the sponsoring group are required to provide settlement assistance in the form of:

  • Reception (e.g.: meeting at the airport; welcoming; etc.)
  • Orientation (e.g.: to the group, to the new neighbourhood, to Canada)
  • Housing (e.g.: arranging for temporary accommodation; helping find permanent accommodation; budgeting for housing expenses)
  • Clothing
  • Food
  • Transportation (e.g.: orienting to public transit system; assisting in obtaining driver’s license)
  • Language(e.g.: assisting in scheduling language test; finding and registering for appropriate language program; etc.)
  • Schooling (helping in the registration of children; finding adult education programs/courses; etc.)
  • Childcare (helping arrange for child care when needed; informing about Canadian childcare practices and customs; sharing information about child protection laws)
  • Emotional and moral support

For more detailed information about the planning for the settlement and integration of sponsored refugees, refer to Chapter 7 of the Handbook for Sponsoring Groups.