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Our Programs:
Impacts & Outcomes

W

hile we served over 26,000 clients, this number illustrates only a limited part of our impact. Over the year we continued to make steady progress in creating a much greater and richer story of our collective successes with newcomers through our impacts and outcomes. We recognize that building sustainable livelihoods in British Columbia is a journey and that no one journey is the same. Our clients, including immigrants, refugees with or without legal status, temporary foreign workers, and international students arrive in BC with different migration experiences, skills and assets, backgrounds and needs.

Below, we share highlights on the newcomers we supported. These numbers include all ISSofBC program areas including our Language and Career College (LCC) social enterprise.

Kathy Sherrell

Chief Program Officer, Settlement and Refugee Services

Carla Morales

Chief Program Officer, Language and Career Services
1

Program registrations 4

1

Unique clients who receive one or more service, including LCC 5

Unique Client Immigration Status at time of service for clients
who received one or more services in any ISSofBC program, including LCC
1
Permanent Residents (PRs)
1
Temporary Residents (all)
1
Naturalized Canadian Citizens (NCCs)
1
Other
1
TOTAL

⁴ This # is not unique and reflects 8000 clients accessing / registering for multiple programs.
⁵ # of clients served across all programs.

1
Permanent Residents (PRs)
1
Government Assisted Refugees (GARs)
1
Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSRs)
1
Protected Person as defined in S.95 of IRPA
1
Temporary Residents (TRs)
1
NCCs
1
Other

Top five (5) client languages

Farsi (Persian)15%
15%
Dari11%
11%
Arabic9%
9%
Spanish8%
8%
Mandarin6%
6%

Client genders

Female53%
53%
Male47%
47%
Not Collected0%
0%
Preferred not to disclose0%
0%

Client ages

0-16 years old11%
11%
16-18 years old2%
2%
19-64 years old81%
81%
65+ years old6%
6%

Below we share the data about the services received by clients and their unique intersectionswith us. Clients may enter ISSofBC to pursue a specific program, while other clients may then choose to follow through with another service or program dependent upon their eligibility.

Settlement & Refugee Services

Our Settlement & Refugee Services division’s goals are to support newcomers and naturalized Canadian citizens to settle into life in BC, understanding government systems, and fostering inclusive communities.

Settlement Services provides information on life in BC, leadership training, peer support, informal language practice, and volunteer opportunities. We offer targeted programs for women, youth, seniors, and refugees to enhance leadership and peer support. Refugee Services supports newly arrived refugees to assess their needs, understand local systems, and Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) to find their first home in British Columbia.

Notable achievements this year:

  • Collaborated with LCC, Burnaby Settlement, and Employment to offer an eight-week English language program for refugee women, focusing on employment in customer service, hospitality, and tourism.
  • Launched the Newcomer Seniors Wellness project, enhancing digital literacy, community connection, and health among newcomer seniors.
  • Offered the Newcomer Bike Mentorship Program in partnership with HUB Cycling and funded by PHAC.
  • Strengthened partnerships with Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health for refugee health support.
  • Expanded services to access emergency and transitional shelters.
  • Our Chief Program Officer spoke to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights about refugee programming and support in Canada.
  • Published a new multi-year research report, Sustaining Welcome: Longitudinal on Integration with Resettled Syrian Refugees, that follows the integration journeys of over 200 resettled Syrian refugees living in British Columbia from 2017-2020. One of the most comprehensive and nuanced assessment of the post-arrival refugee experiences in BC to date, the report brought together academic experts, front-line workers and practitioners including psychologists, social scientists, geographers and epidemiologists.

To ensure the best delivery, we also focused on staff wellbeing with group debriefings and training materials on cultural competency, trauma-informed care, conflict management, and mental health response.

Our Impact

1
Total number of clients served:
1

Total # clients who received settlement services

1

Total # clients who received refugee services

1

Refugee claimants served in Settlement Orientation Services (SOS) and other programs

1

Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) supported by the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) and other programs

1

of GAR arrivals

1

GAR families supported to find housing

1

Youth seniors and women participating in leadership training and peer support groups

1

Clients accessing Moving Ahead Program (MAP) case management

1

PR applications completed

1

Refugee claimant families supported to find emergency or transitional shelter

1

Clients who reported an increase in knowledge of life in Canada

1

Clients who reported an increase in participation in social networks and communities – a strong indicator of integration

Please note: Detailed data on GAR arrivals is published quarterly on the ISSofBC hosted BC Refugee Hub.
This data, up to and including March 2024, is critical in helping understand the trends that impact client flows and outcomes.

Language and Career Services (LCS)

Our Languages and Career Services division enables newcomers to achieve their language, job search, career, training and re-qualification needs. The division includes the Language and Career College of BC (LCC), that delivers high quality English and co-op programs for domestic and international students at affordable prices. We saw an increase in client demand, new partnerships and innovative new programming within LCS.

English language training, Language Instruction for Newcomers (LINC)

Known for its quality, excellence and sector leadership, ISSofBC’s LINC:

  • Offered 78 hybrid English language classes across six locations within the Lower Mainland and the Squamish, Sea to Sky and Sunshine Coast area.
  • Following new best practices implemented by Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS) , our online classes implemented a Community of Practice (CoP) model to encourage teachers to share online teaching strategies, with the purpose of promoting efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Locations in New Westminster, Vancouver, Coquitlam and Richmond offered digital literacy workshops with incredibly positive feedback from both students and facilitators.

Our Impact

1
Clients who enrolled in LINC classes at any level
1

LINC students who received childcare support through our pre-schools

1

LINC program enrollment

1

LINC program attendance

1

Clients who reported their English has improved

1

Clients who reported that they can use English to function in Canadian society

Career Services

Our Career Services continued to offer client-centric employment programs to support newcomers to build successful careers in British Columbia:

  • The Career Paths program exceeded employment outcome targets across multiple streams and secured client placements with top employers like Microsoft and TransLink.
  • Events such as the District of Saanich Employer Session and the Career Paths Professional Development Day Conference significantly enhanced client networking opportunities and access to industry insights.
  • With a focus on accessibility, our Job Quest program and Open Door Group collaborated to produce a newcomer disability toolkit and training for our case managers in disability-related employment needs.
  • We also successfully launched Skills Hub, a new skills training program targeting newcomers with barriers to employment.
  • Our entrepreneurship programs, Spark and Ignite, supported over 100 newcomer entrepreneurs. Active participation in events like Global Entrepreneurship Week and the Startup Canada Tour further expanded our network of mentors and partners.

Our Impact

1

Clients who received employment/entrepreneurship services

1

Clients who received skills training

1

Clients who found new employment

1

Clients who received career loans

1

Clients who found a job through
our business partners

1

Clients supported to achieve recognitionof professional qualifications

6 From our programs: Career Paths, Global Talent Loans, Gateway to Tourism and Hospitality, Youth in Tech and Tech Women
7 From our programs: Job Quest, Career Paths, Global Talent Loans, Gateway to Tourism and Hospitality, Youth in Tech and Tech Women
8 From our program: Global Talent Loans
9 From our programs: Career Paths and Global Talent Loans

39

10

Clients who
launched a business
1
Clients who reported increased knowledge, skills, and connections to prepare for a job
1
Clients who reported participation in the Canadian job market

10 From our programs: Job Quest, Smart Move, and Gateway to Tourism and Hospitality

Language and Career College (LCC)

The Language and Career College of BC (LCC) continued to thrive, increasing the number of students served from the last fiscal year. New program opportunities included a partnership with ISANS in Nova Scotia to offer specialized communication courses for internationally trained healthcare professionals and conducting language assessments for prospective clients of BC SAFE HAVEN, an integrated program targeting refugee claimants, to be launched in 2024. 

Our Impact

1

Clients supported by LCC services.

1

Students enrolled in language programs.

1

Students enrolled in skills training.

Students who completed LCC programs90%
90%
Students who found work because of the co-op program80%
80%
Satisfaction rate of all students99%*
99%*

*Percentage of students who reported that they would recommend LCC to others.