A helping hand in Vancouver

by Ode Iweh, Vancouver, British Columbia

Background

The Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia (ISS) provides a range of services to newcomers to help them integrate into Canadian society, including the Host Program. The English-language component of this program was created in 1985 and the French-language component was launched in 2005. Despite a 20‑year organizational age difference, the two components of the Program work hand-in-hand today by sharing the same objective: to ensure the well-being of British Columbia’s English- and French-speaking newcomers.

Immigrating in French

Although similar to the experience of an English-speaking immigrant, the integration process for a French‑speaking immigrant in predominantly English-speaking British Columbia is more difficult. To understand how Vancouver’s French-language host program facilitates the integration of newcomers, we will look at the following aspects: the Program’s objective, guiding principle and duration; feedback from people who work or volunteer with the Program; comments from newcomers regarding their experience with the Program; and the importance of such a program to the vitality of minority Francophone communities in Western Canada.

The objective

For a Francophone newcomer, it is not easy to create a network, especially in a predominantly English-speaking environment. However, this step is crucial to newcomers’ integration process.

The Host Program enables the integration of French-speaking immigrants through steps taken with government agencies in the areas of immigration, health services and the school system.

The Program helps these immigrants obtain official forms and documents pertaining to social insurance, health insurance, resident cards, etc.

It serves as the gateway to community services in education, training, job search programs and cultural adjustment.

The principle

According to the ISS, the principle behind the Host Program is to pair a Francophone individual or family with another Francophone individual or family based on such criteria as family size, interests and profession.

Duration

The Host Program, which helps newcomers integrate into their new surroundings and adapt to their host families, lasts six months, with weekly meetings of two to four hours in length. The progress achieved and the success of the Program are directly linked to the people involved, both workers and volunteers. According to the former coordinator of the French-language component, Moussa Magassa, “a volunteer is above all a Canadian friend with whom to go window-shopping, walk around the city and share a meal. After all, the goal is to help newcomers get acquainted with the city of Vancouver and Canadian culture.”

Testimonials

The volunteers interviewed say the Host Program is an opportunity to form friendships with newcomers and discover a new culture. The volunteers who initially welcome the immigrants are given different types of ISS training on such topics as intercultural communication and racism. They are also followed throughout the course of the Program to make sure the matches go well.

According to five newcomers who participated in this program, the Host Program has facilitated their integration into Canada. Through the Program, they were able to find housing, open a bank account, obtain their social insurance number, enrol their children in school and better understand and appreciate the multicultural character of Vancouver. The Program helped them take their first steps toward discovering the Canadian reality.

A few people would like to see better training for workers and volunteers to raise their awareness, especially pertaining to the cultural differences of newcomers.

The Host Program has already been a  success: More than 20 French-speaking newcomers have been paired with a host since early 2005.

Given its important role in reaching minority Francophone communities in British Columbia in general, and in Vancouver and its surroundings in particular, the Program has local offices in Collingwood, Coquitlam and Burnaby, in addition to its head office in downtown Vancouver. Thanks to the ISS Host Program, integrating into British Columbia is now much easier for Francophone newcomers.

Credits

Credit: Ode Iweh