Ottawa gives Nunavut more money for immigrant services

New immigrants to Canada who want to settle in Nunavut can look forward to receiving more services next year.

The amount of money Ottawa gives Nunavut for immigrant services will be increased in 2012-13, Jason Kenney, minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, said Nov. 25.

These services include “free language training, information and referrals, help finding employment that matches newcomers’ skills and education, and help integrating into Canadian society.”

“The Government of Canada wants newcomers to integrate into Canada. That is why we have tripled settlement funding since 2005-06,” Kenney said in a news release. “We are committed to ensuring the distribution of settlement funding is fair and that immigrants receive the same level of service, regardless of where they choose to settle.”

Nunavut will receive about $500,000 for the 2012-13 fiscal year, an increase of $10,000 from this current fiscal year.

Settlement funding is being more fairly distributed, to serve the needs of newcomers, the news release said.

The amount of money handed out is now determined according to a national settlement funding formula based on how many immigrants chose to go to a province or territory. This formula now applies in all provinces and territories except Quebec.

The funding formula was also updated recently to reflect the use of settlement services by refugees. This will increase the amount allocated to provinces and territories, “based on their intake of refugees,” the news release stated.

“We believe it is only fair that settlement allocations across Canada should be based on the share of newcomers that provinces and territories have,” Kenney said.

Money will be go towards delivering services directly to immigrants and away from supporting expenses such as administration, travel or capital costs for organizations, the news release said.

The total 2012-13 amount going to all provinces and territories outside Quebec is $576.8 million.

The Northwest Territories will receive about $725,000 for 2012-13, up roughly $100,000 from 2011-12.