In Halton, newcomers can receive settlement assistance from The Centre for Skills Development & Training, the Halton Multicultural Council, and the Newcomer Information Centre. There are also many other organizations that will help anyone with specific needs (including newcomers); a settlement specialist can help you find these organizations or they can be found by contacting 211 Halton.

Halton Region has a subsidized housing program; visit their website for information on eligibility and how to apply. 211 Halton, which is a phone and web-based referral service, can also help you find information on various housing programs like the Transitional Housing Program for Newcomers to Halton. Contact your Settlement Information Specialist to find out if you are eligible for subsidized housing and what programs would suit your situation best.

Talking to your Settlement Information Specialist will help you to determine what kind of legal assistance you need. Your settlement specialist can also explain the process of applying for legal aid. Another helpful organization is Halton Community Legal Services; they help people to meet their most basic needs, including legal problems related to housing and shelter, income, social assistance and other similar government programs.

Canadian Language Benchmarks are the standard used in Canada for describing, measuring, and recognizing the English or French language ability of adult immigrants.

Canadian Language Benchmarks assess Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing skills and use real-life language tasks to measure language skills. Standard assessment tests are given to identify a learner’s progress in each skill area, so The Centre’s instructors can help them achieve their language goals.

Here are the organizations that evaluate international credentials in Ontario: Comparative Education Services (CES), International Credential Assessment Services (ICAS), and World Education Services (WES). For a fee, these organizations can provide various credential evaluation services. There are some programs that help newcomers to get their credentials assessed. Talk to your Settlement Information Specialist to see what you are eligible for.

Newcomers may need to get their credentials evaluated when they are looking for a job or if they are planning on going to school.

● For a job: If the job posting has an education requirement, it is recommended to get an evaluation report and say in the résumé that you have Canadian equivalency from a recognized evaluation service.

● For education: Each college, university and institute has its own process for evaluating previous education and deciding whether to admit a student. Some may evaluate your previous education themselves. Others may ask for a report from an evaluation services.

To be eligible for Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) or English as a Second Language (ESL) Training, your first language cannot be English. Eligibility for either LINC or ESL also depends on your immigration status. Permanent Residents, Convention Refugees, live-in caregivers, and persons with letters confirming refugee status are able to attend LINC classes. Canadian Citizens are eligible to attend ESL classes.

There are a lot of resources to help newcomers find work in Canada. To determine which program would be the best for you, it’s important to visit a Settlement Information Specialist. Settlement Information Specialists can help newcomers find work by referring them to free employment programs like Enhanced Language Training, Job Search Workshops or the nearest Employment Resource Centre.

There are a lot of places where you can connect with other newcomers. Join an online networking group like loonlounge.com, take a LINC/ESL class, join a newcomer associaton or attend services at the local place of worship for your faith - church, mosque, temple, or Gurdwara. You can also connect with other newcomers in Halton by joining one of The Centre’s Newcomer Network groups. Contact one of our Settlement Information Specialists for details on how to join.

“Landed immigrant” is another way to refer to “Permanent Residents.” There are many different types of resident status in Canada (Citizen, Permanent Resident, Convention Refugee, Student, Temporary Worker, etc.). The Citizenship and Immigration Canada website has good explanations for each one.