CANADIAN COUNCIL FOR REFUGEES

TASKFORCE ON PROFESSIONALIZATION

by Mila Voihanski, Executive Director, JIAS Canada 

The settlement sector has been serving newcomers to Canada for over 80 years. During those eight decades, the sector passed from informal to formal services and is now aiming for professionalization. While sector services are at par with other social services, they are specific to the needs and processes in settlement which require specialized qualifications in terms of cultural and linguistic sensitivity and interpretation.  

At its May 2004 Consultation, the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) adopted a resolution on the professionalization of the settlement sector This resolution resulted from dialogue among CCR members about concerns they identified. 

As a follow-up to the Resolution, a Task Force on Professionalization, chaired by Nancy Worsford of the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO),  was formed. It is comprised of 11 members including Debbie Douglas of   The Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), Marie-Josée Duplessis of Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes refugees et immigrantes      (TCRI), Jorge Fernandez of International Centre of Winnipeg, Lauren Johnson of BC Settlement and Integration Workers’ Association ( BCSIWA), myself and others. 

CCR’s understanding of professionalization puts at the centre newcomers’ needs and rights and the commitment of settlement workers towards excellence in servicing and advocating for them. It is a holistic understanding, placing practitioners’ professionalization within the wider context of organizational resources, practices and needs.  It also emphasises governmental responsibilities towards the settlement and integration of newcomers to Canada. 

While there had been previous discussion on settlement standards, binding operational standardization of the sector is not so far a reality. The CCR has made advancements in terms of defining core values pertaining to settlement services, elaborating guidelines on the basis of such values, identifying best practices and outlining a standards framework. The position of the settlement worker and practitioner in their organizational context as well as in the context of governmental responsibility towards the settlement of newcomers was highlighted. 

The taskforce defined professionalization of  the settlement sector as a process of improvement of the professional standing of the sector’s agencies and staff in order to achieve standardization and excellence in the provision of settlement services to refugees andimmigrants.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Our vision is of settlement agencies whose programmes are guided by standards that ensure a professional level of service to newcomers, and of settlement workers and practitioners who are equipped with the professional means to deliver such quality services. While this vision of professionalization entails enhancements both at the organizational and staff levels, the CCR and settlement sector stakeholders promote a step-by-step approach, starting with the professionalization of settlement workers and practitioners.   A second stage will involve standards at the organizational level and their implementation.

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