The first 365 days

We are indebted to the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis (RIIM) and to the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC) for their financial support. [...] We explore the living conditions prior to resettlement in Canada in order to provide a context for analyzing the process of finding housing and for understanding salient issues associated with housing and living conditions and safety. [...] To conclude, we situate the Acehnese settlement experience during the first 365 days of resettlement within a broader discussion of immigrant research, focusing briefly on the second wave of findings in the Longitudinal Study of Immigrants to Canada (Statistics Canada: LSIC 2005). [...] With the help of a non-profit immigrant and refugee serving agency, the Immigrant Services Society of BC, a settlement counsellor familiar to the Acehnese was able to deliver and administer the surveys in participants’ homes. [...] In the final dissemination event held in June 2005, several policy recommendations gleaned from the focus groups were presented to 43 members of the Acehnese community as well as a number of representatives from the provincial and federal governments.