The budget cuts are so deep that neighbourhood houses like Frog Hollow will lay off seven full-time employees, while the Collingwood house will lose 20 full-time positions.
Neighbourhood organizations that provide settlement services to newcomers in Vancouver say they are shocked and devastated by drastic cuts in federal funding.
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship department has axed funding to programs that support immigrants, leading to widespread layoffs in the settlement agencies and leaving newcomers without key programs.
“I am devastated for our community,” said Rosa Palacio, director of community programs at Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House.
Frog Hollow has had to slash programming, lay off seven full-time employees and reduce hours for other staff.
“There is a lot of anger and frustration,” said Palacio. “This could have been done with more care and consideration.”
Collingwood Neighbourhood House had 100 per cent of its settlement services funding cut, said executive director Betty Lepps. “It was shocking. I didn’t know if I was reading it right.”
She was.
In addition to program cuts, 20 staff will lose their jobs at Collingwood Neighbourhood House.
In October, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced Canada will accept 395,000 new permanent residents in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027. That is a 20 per cent drop from the 485,000 the country accepted last year.
“The amount of resources available for settlement services depends on how many newcomers are expected to arrive. Since fewer newcomers are expected in 2025-2027, available resources have been reduced to match this decrease, this has resulted in a reduction in service providers,” the department said in a statement in December.
“The funding for newcomers was never enough to begin with,” said Véronique Sioufi, a racial and socio-economic equity researcher for the Centre for Policy Alternatives. “If the federal government is suddenly going to reduce the numbers, the least they could have done is maintain the funding to sufficiently support the people that are already here.”
Canada has admitted a record number of immigrants in recent years, many of whom still need supports. According to the 2021 census, 8,361,505 people, or 23 per cent of Canada’s population, were foreign-born.
Little Mountain Neighbourhood House said it was hit with a 65 per cent cut in funding.
The federal government has also changed the funding cycle from five years to three years, a change implemented after organizations had already put in proposals for a five-year period.
“That will make planning very difficult for us,” said Joel Bronstein, executive director of Little Mountain Neighbourhood House.
Neighbourhood houses in B.C. provide a range of settlement services, including the federally funded Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada, or LINC.
Services at Little Mountain include child care, seniors programs, digital literacy, case management and employment readiness.
Alesandra Pochueva, 33, who emigrated from Russia two years ago and teaches digital literacy at Little Mountain, is one of 15 employees who have been laid off.
Without digital literacy it is impossible for newcomers to adapt, said Pochueva. “This program is essential. Everything is online. Their CRA accounts and employment sites, like Indeed.com.”
Pochueva, who relied on neighbourhood house supports when she arrived and faced adjustment challenges said she feels helpless. “This is not just my job, this is my family.”
Rosa Palacios, settlement director of community programs at Frog Hollow, said over 60 per cent of their funding is gone.
“People in need keep calling us, asking where to go, and the heartbreaking thing is we have nowhere to send them because the cuts are across the entire settlement sector,” said Palacios.
Frog Hollow’s funding cuts affect client’s food security, child care, trauma services, and employment services. Palacio said she worries about the effect of social isolation on newcomers that face a challenging work and economic environment.
According to a 2024 report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, over 60 per cent of recent immigrants were in non-standard employment. Over 55 per cent had precarious employment with limited access to employment insurance and parental leave, pensions, extended health coverage, and paid sick time.
Statistics Canada data also show that recent immigrants and non-permanent residents, especially, are far more likely to be in poverty than non-immigrants and 24 per cent of recent immigrants and 33 per cent of non-permanent residents find themselves in unsuitable housing compared with eight per cent of non-immigrants.
“The federal government thinks they can turn funding on and off like a tap, but these are people,” said Siofi. “People don’t get settled overnight. Immigration softened the blow on recession and helped our economy and now we are leaving new immigrants in the lurch.”