Pathways to Prosperity: Canada

Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC’s) Integration Branch has developed new settlement information content for newcomers. This content provides practical information on 16 key settlement topics as well as referrals to government-funded programs and services. The new content is intended to be relevant to all newcomers, regardless of where they settle in Canada. The expectation is that it will be complemented by regional and locally specific information developed by provinces, municipalities and immigrant-serving organizations.  The goal of the new content is to promote the dissemination of useful, clear and consistent national-scale settlement information. In doing so, it also aims to streamline the information newcomers receive and reduce costly duplication of efforts related to information products and services.

Please note that this information was written for an audience of permanent residents of Canada. The reader’s permanent resident status is assumed in the presentation of the information. As a result, information found in SIRE will be informative for temporary residents of Canada, but temporary residents should be aware that they may be ineligible for some of the services mentioned.  Please be cautious and verify what information applies to a temporary resident status. 

The new content was developed based on:

• An analysis of survey data and academic research on newcomer information needs.
• Consultations with other departments in the Federal Government and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC).
• Recommendations from expert meetings on information provision to newcomers that included representatives from immigrant-serving organizations and academic researchers.
• Feedback on a draft of the new content obtained from 75 newcomers during consultations sessions held across Canada by researchers from the Welcoming Communities Initiative.
  • The consultation report revealed that the newcomers consulted reacted very positively to the new content, rating it highly in terms of clarity, relevance, organization and other key elements.

The content has been professionally edited to Canadian Language Benchmark 5 by a team of editors at the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. This was done to ensure that the information would be accessible to a broad range of newcomers who do not speak English or French as a first language.

Guidelines for using the information

• Immigrant-serving organizations and community based initiatives are welcome to use the new content or portions thereof in their settlement information products and services for newcomers (i.e., websites, printed publications, orientation sessions, etc.).

• Users are welcome and encouraged to supplement the national-scale information provided with regionally- and locally-specific settlement information and service referrals.

• CIC’s Integration Branch requests to be informed whenever the content or a portion thereof is used in a publication or website that provides settlement information for newcomers. CIC’s Integration Branch must always be acknowledged as a collaborator in connection with the content used, whether the content is identical to or inspired by the original.

• Although the content has been professionally edited, a thorough proofread of the text is recommended prior to use. In addition, it is the responsibility of users to keep the links, telephone numbers and service referrals up to date.

• Correspondence related to the attached content should be directed to the following members of CIC’s Information and Orientation Unit:
  • Cédric de Chardon (Manager): Cedric.deChardon@cic.gc.ca; 613-952-3456
  • Paul Weber: Paul.Weber@cic.gc.ca; 613-952-6133