IRCC funding cuts leave newcomers and immigration service providers worried

By EHRIN LOPEZ

An important immigrant support centre in Vancouver is being forced to close due to budget cuts.

Since 2008, the Skilled Immigrant InfoCentre (SIIC) has been assisting newcomers to navigate employment opportunities in Canada. It is closing at the end of March, leaving new immigrants to find other networks of support.

A statement issued by Mary Rose Sabater, a communications advisor with the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), said that services like the SIIC are being reduced due to fewer newcomers expected between 2025 and 2027.

“Available resources have been reduced to match this decrease, and this has resulted in a reduction in service providers,” Sabater said.

Employment decrease among service providers

Jacyntha England, an English language teacher with the YMCA, said that IRCC is also cutting funding for other groups supporting immigrants including YMCA, MOSAIC, S.U.C.C.E.S.S, and DIVERSEcity.

England fears that as of March 31, newcomers without protection, advocates, or translators will “fall through the cracks” leading to dangerous situations as they work in unprotected and unmonitored jobs.

“When you’re coming from a war-torn country…you’re in shock. You’re not always capable of picking up a phone and calling a landlord to negotiate a rental,” England said.

For the YMCA, losing funding means her team will go from a staff of almost 20 to about five employees, England said, which means less support for newcomers.

The changes have forced organizations to make hard choices about which programs to fund, England said. “They have to prioritize.”

“It’s something that never needed to happen,” England said. “It’s like you’re watching a train wreck in slow motion.”

England said she grew up thinking of Canada as an inclusive country with a government that looked out for its most vulnerable populations, but after these program cuts, she’s become disillusioned.

“I see our country changing so quickly… this is not the Canada I recognize.”

Loss of resources for newcomers

The SIIC hosted their final event on March 14, a newcomers resource fair at the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) where immigrants can connect with local organizations to get support for employment, legal advice and more. The centre’s final event was “incredibly sad” for the team that ran it, said SIIC coordinator Emily Corley.

Maki Kobayashi is a newcomer from Japan hoping to become a health assistant in Vancouver. She said she would have wanted to use the SIIC if it were not closing. Instead, she has been attending a language class provided by the non-profit MOSAIC and the conversation club at the YMCA.

Bita Seifi, an embryologist from Iran who came to Vancouver with her daughter last year, is searching for new opportunities in her career.

“I want to volunteer with healthcare first… then find a job where I can help everyone,” Seifi said.

Seifi said the SIIC’s newcomer fair helped her learn about employment pathways in Canada. With limited resources available about the employment system, the SIIC’s closure would send her back searching for a community that offers the support she needs.