Program directory · Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Settlement
- Program code
- BGE07 (CI)
- Core responsibility
- Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
Eligible permanent residents have access to free settlement services, funded by IRCC, once in Canada and prior to arrival, to help them overcome barriers specific to the immigrant and refugee experience, such as insufficient official language skills and limited knowledge of Canada. These services enable immigrants and refugees to participate in social, cultural, civic and economic life in Canada. IRCC-funded services include needs assessment and referral, information and orientation, language training, employment-related services and community connections. Services are delivered by third-party organizations such as settlement service organizations, community partners, school boards and other non-governmental actors across the country. Clients also have access to support services—such as child-minding, transportation, translation and interpretation—to support their participation in IRCC-funded services. IRCC also funds Local Immigration Partnerships, Réseaux en immigration francophone and Immigrant Employment Councils, which coordinate service delivery in local communities and foster welcoming communities and workplaces. Under the 1991 Canada-Quebec Accord, the province of Quebec is responsible for reception, settlement and integration of immigrants destined to that province. IRCC provides a grant to Quebec to cover these services, which are equivalent to federal services offered throughout the rest of the country.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Settlement | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $11.6B |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | Employees (FTEs) 472, against 385 in 2021-22 (+23%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024 | Budget 2024 measure “2023-24 Adjustment to the Grant for the Canada-Quebec Accord on Immigration Employment and Social”: $48M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2024, PDF page 406 |
| 2026-27 | Indicators added: Percentage of settlement clients who attribute improvement of their knowledge of Canada to IRCC-funded settlement services; Percentage of settlement clients who attribute improvement of their official language skills to IRCC-funded settlement services | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators dropped: Number of unique clients who received at least one settlement service; Percentage of clients who received employment-related services; Percentage of clients who received language training services | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Number of unique clients who received at least one settlement service
Expected result: Clients receive IRCC-funded settlement services
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 400,000 | 2019 | 519,490 The number of unique clients who have received at least one settlement service has been trending upward since 2014 and has exceeded the established target almost every year. Over the past few years there has been an increase in permanent resident admissions which has contributed to the increased uptake of settlement services. Furthermore, there has been an increase in funding to deliver high-qual… | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 400,000 | 2020 | 547,197 The number of unique settlement clients who have received at least one settlement service funded by IRCC has been increasing annually since 2014. In 2019-20, almost 550,000 clients accessed IRCC-funded settlement services, a 5% increase compared to the almost 520,000 clients in 2018-19, and once again exceeded the established target. The rise in permanent resident admissions has contributed to th… | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 450,000 | 2021 | 379,375 Border restrictions due to the pandemic inevitably decreased the number of newcomers arriving to Canada and hence receiving settlement services. Public health requirements for physical distancing necessitated that settlement service provider organizations (SPOs) transition from primarily in-person to remote service delivery. While SPOs continued to ensure a high degree of service continuity, virt… | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 450,000 | 2022 | 428,648 In 2021-22, the number of unique clients who received at leased one settlement services increased to 428,648. Although this number it below the established target, it represents an increase compared to the first pandemic year of 2020-21. The increase this year is consistent with the overall trends of steady increases in Settlement Program's clients since 2014 that are driven by rising immigration… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 450,000 | 2023 | 607,866 In 2022-23, the number of unique clients who received at least one settlement service was close to 608,000. The result, which is significantly above the target of ≥ 450,000, is in line with the pre-COVID context where around 550,000 clients were served in 2019-20. The number is however significantly higher than the 2021-22 (a 30% increase). This increase can be explained by two key factors: first… | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 450,000 | 2024 | 695,044 In 2023-24, the number of unique clients who received at least one settlement service (including domestic services, pre-arrival services and service improvement) was over 695,000. The result, which is significantly higher than the target of ≥ 450,000, is due to a change in eligibility criteria of settlement services to include some certain temporary residents arriving in Canada via temporary immi… | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 500,000 | 2025 | 688,845 The number of unique clients that accessed settlement services in 2024-25 exceeded the target of ≥ 500,000. This aligns with growing immigration levels from past years and reflects the Government of Canada’s decision to extend settlement services to certain temporary residents that arrived under Canada’s international crisis response initiatives. The extension of settlement services to these cris… | Met |
Percentage of clients who received employment-related services
Expected result: Clients access services to acquire skills to prepare for the Canadian labour market
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 15% | 2019 | 11% The percentage of clients who received employment-related services has not met the established target. While the percentage has remained relatively stable, the unique client count is showing an increase each year. In 2017-2018, 44,528 unique clients accessed employment-related services compared to 50,901 in 2018-2019, a 14% increase. This is partially a result of the increase in permanent residen… | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 15% | 2020 | 11% The percentage of clients who received employment-related services has not met the established target. Nonetheless, the unique client count is showing an increase each year. In 2019-20, 62,036 unique clients accessed IRCC funded employment-related services compared 50,761 in 2017-18, a 22% rise. However, as a result of the increase in permanent resident admissions and the similar pace of growth i… | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 15% | 2021 | 11.7% In 2020-2021, the percentage of clients who received employment-related services fell short of the 15% target. In light of the pandemic, overall the Settlement Program observed a decrease in the number of newcomers arriving in Canada with a significant drop in the volume of clients who received any settlement service (note that newcomers tend to have a higher uptake rate in years closest to landi… | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 15% | 2022 | 10.6% The percentage of clients who received employment-related services has not met the established target, which has been a challenge in previous years as well. In 2021-22, more than 45,000 unique clients accessed IRCC-funded employment-related services compared to almost 57,000 in 2019-20, a 21% decline. Despite the increase in permanent resident admissions and the similar pace of growth in settleme… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 15% | 2023 | 11.3% While the percentage of clients who received employment-related services has not met the established target, the overall number of clients who received employment-related services grew by 23,000 when compared to 2021-22. There has also been an increase in the number of clients accessing employment-related services targeted to those with international training in regulated professions, as well as… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 15% | 2024 | 12% While the 2023-24 result remains under the target, it has increased by 0.7% since last year and is the highest result reported in a decade. This increase may be explained by several factors. First, it may be a reflection of the increase in permanent resident admissions as well as the similar pace of growth in total settlement clients in recent years. Second, there has been a significant increase… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 15% | 2025 | 12.5% This result is consistent with past years, as the number of clients who received employment-related services has ranged from 10-12% since 2014-15. Measures are in place to address results which remain below the target. Through the 2024 Call for Proposals (CFP), employment-related services have become more tailored to better suit the needs of newcomers. For example, the recent CFP called for targe… | Not met |
Percentage of clients who received language training services
Expected result: Clients receive language instruction
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 25% | 2019 | 20.2% The percentage of clients who received language training services has declined year over year, falling below the established target in the past two years. The increased admission of vulnerable populations with lower language levels has resulted in a greater number of clients who have complex needs and require additional support. This could impact the timing and ability of clients to access langua… | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 25% | 2020 | 19% In 2019–20, approximately 105,000 unique clients accessed language training services, which is relatively the same as in 2018–19. However, the percentage of clients who received language training services, as a proportion of all settlement clients, has declined year over year, decreasing from about 20% in 2018–19, 24% in 2017–18, and 26% in 2016–17. The admission of vulnerable populations with lo… | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 25% | 2021 | 20.5% The decline in unique clients in 2020-21 can be explained by the low demand for language training during the pandemic and the suspension of in-person delivery of non-essential settlement services. To adapt to the context, various measures were implemented such as online protocols for language assessments, the extension of the validity period of previous language skills assessment results from one… | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 25% | 2022 | 17.8% In 2021-22, there was slight decline in the percentage of people accessing language training services. This decline can be explained by the lower demand for settlement services, overall, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the context of the ongoing pandemic and related border closures, a smaller cohort of landed newcomers in 2020-21 may have had an impact on uptake in 2021-22, as many newcomers tak… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 25% | 2023 | 17.1% While the percentage of clients who received language training services has not met the established target of ≥ 25%, the overall number of clients who received language training services grew by 24,000 when compared to 2021-22. IRCC will continue to monitor the uptake rate to assess trends in newcomers' profile, and promote greater access and uptake of language training services among potential c… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 25% | 2024 | 17.4% The number of clients who received language training services grew by more than 20,000 when compared to 2022-23. Additionally, pressures from increased levels of newcomers to Canada has affected how quickly clients can access language assessments and training. IRCC will continue to monitor the uptake rate to assess trends in newcomers' profile, and promote greater access and uptake of language tr… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 25% | 2025 | 19% The percentage of clients who received language training services did not meet the established target of ≥ 25% for 2024-25. However, the percentage has increased by more than 2 percentage points compared to 2023-24. Pressures from increased levels of newcomers to Canada has affected how quickly clients can access language assessments and training. IRCC will continue to monitor the uptake rate to… | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Percentage of settlement clients who attribute improvement of their knowledge of Canada to IRCC-funded settlement services
Expected result: Clients receive IRCC-funded settlement services
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 85% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Percentage of settlement clients who attribute improvement of their official language skills to IRCC-funded settlement services
Expected result: Clients receive IRCC-funded settlement services
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 75% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $1.3B | $1.36B |
| 2019-20 | $1.37B | $1.4B |
| 2020-21 | $1.46B | $1.49B |
| 2021-22 | $1.57B | $1.59B |
| 2022-23 | $1.77B | $1.75B |
| 2023-24 | $1.88B | $1.92B |
| 2024-25 | $2.02B | $2.05B |
| 2025-26 | $2.09B | — |
| 2026-27 | $1.88B | — |
| 2027-28 | $1.81B* | — |
| 2028-29 | $1.69B* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 324 | 330 |
| 2019-20 | 343 | 361 |
| 2020-21 | 358 | 347 |
| 2021-22 | 326 | 385 |
| 2022-23 | 415 | 472 |
| 2023-24 | 441 | 537 |
| 2024-25 | 508 | 494 |
| 2025-26 | 487 | — |
| 2026-27 | 402 | — |
| 2027-28 | 396* | — |
| 2028-29 | 343* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $1,298,394,052 | $1,270,958,534 | $1,305,336,739 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $1,371,477,785 | $1,397,574,441 | $1,438,408,079 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $1,461,023,667 | $1,507,498,560 | $1,518,922,828 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $1,569,476,552 | $1,621,669,279 | $1,650,265,195 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $1,766,765,156 | $1,762,049,690 | $1,765,736,077 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $1,875,992,554 | $1,856,310,360 | $1,851,898,958 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $2,017,133,697 | $2,021,828,036 | $2,041,249,322 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $2,085,572,778 | $1,990,333,982 | $1,965,373,737 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $1,881,008,444 | $1,811,001,666 | $1,692,975,017 | ||||||||
| Actual | $1,356,204,033 | $1,401,916,705 | $1,488,169,552 | $1,585,362,875 | $1,750,835,368 | $1,920,541,950 | $2,052,646,434 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
