Funding changes ripple through newcomer support groups

At least two organizations that provide support services to newcomers in Manitoba have had significant portions of their funding cut from the federal government.

An apparent wide-scale change has been started by the federal Liberal government over which organizations get funding to assist newcomers to Manitoba.

Welcome Place, operated by theManitoba Interfaith Immigration Council, is losing one third of its budget.

Altered Minds Inc., which offers a variety of followup services to refugees and newcomers, will see $1.2 million cut from its budget.

Both received money fromImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

"I contacted my project and said,'What? Am I hearing right?'" said Grace Eidse,executive director of Altered Minds.

Altered Minds provides support to newcomers in a classroom setting for health, employment, legal issues and how to access services.

The organization helped approximately4,000 newcomers last year.

"For us, it means 15 full-time staff and five part-time staff. A majority of whom are immigrants themselves. They have been depending on us, just like the newcomers who come here," Eidse said.

Eidse says she has met withfive other organizations that have received similar notices from the federal government but she declined to name which have been affected.

Altered Minds uses professional teachers through a four-week program in a classroom, and Eidsesays the system they use is comprehensive and costeffective and is recognized for its outcomes with newcomers.

Eidse says her organization will lobby to have the funding restored.

"We don't understand the reason, so therefore we can't just roll over and die," she said.

Changes coming

Welcome Place, which isfacing a $750,000 hole in its budget because of the federal decision, will also have to cut staff.

"There will be cuts because there isa whole program that will not be running now out of Welcome Place. We have to adjust our staffing," said executive director Rita Chahal, in an interview Saturday.

Eidsebelieves the federal government is looking at changing the way newcomers are connected with servicesto a more needs assessmentand checklistbased system. She also believes the federal and provincial governments are in negotiations to combine some services.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) would not say where thefunding is going but saidit began acceptingproposals from organizations that provide direct services to newcomersin February.

"After a thorough review of the proposals received, 824 projects have been selected to deliver services that are client-centred, outcomes-driven and responsive to needs and that use resources effectively," a spokesperson said, in an emailed statement.

"The volume of high quality submissions received through this process meant that although there were many promising proposals submitted, only the most viable proposals that were consistent with the funding guidelines were selected."

IRCC said Winnipeg will continue to have the same level of services for refugees under the new agreements and that Welcome Place's proposal to continue delivering other general settlement services has been approved.

"At this point, we cannot speak to funding for other service provider organizations," the statement said.