Unsettled : Building capacity for social justice

Unsettled: Legal and Policy Barriers for Newcomers to Canada II Foreword July 2006 Community Foundations of Canada and the Law Commission of Canada are very pleased to present Unsettled: Legal and Policy Barriers for Newcomers to Canada by Sarah Wayland. [...] They spoke of a lack of fit between programs offered and clients’ needs and also noted the lack of resources and preparation to assist some of the newly-arrived high-needs populations. [...] Ratna Omidvar, Maytree Foundation Unsettled: Legal and Policy Barriers for Newcomers to Canada 2 Defining the Research Objectives of the Research This research examines the legal and policy barriers to the settlement of newcomers to Canada, including immigrants, refugees, refugee claimants, and others. [...] The objectives are: 1. to provide a clear and soundly supported assessment of the legal and policy barriers hindering the settlement of newcomers to Canada; 2. to identify initiatives and programs that are working to overcome these barriers; and 3. to propose policy and program changes in key areas impacting newcomer settlement, including the need for law reform. [...] To this end, this report consists of three parts: (1) a project report summarizing overall findings, broken down by key themes, and recommendations for specific policy and program changes in key areas impacting newcomer settlement; (2) a “state of the art” literature review outlining and analyzing the legal and policy barriers to immigrant settlement in Canada; and (3) a compendium of “ideas for a