“June 20 is the day the world commemorates the strength, courage, and perseverance of millions of refugees. Held every year, World Refugee Day also marks a key moment for the public to show support for families forced to flee,” The UN Refugee Agency.
Since November 2015, Canada has welcomed over 40,000 refugees in almost 400 communities.
Achēv works every day to provide support for newcomers, delivering employment, settlement and language services across the Greater Toronto Area, in addition to our LINC Home Study online learning system, our Canadian Language Benchmarks- Online Self-Assessment Service and our virtual international services through our Preparing to Work in Canada (PrepCan) pre-arrival services. ACHĒV assists clients in Ontario, Canada and around the world.
Here are a handful of the programs and services that we provide:
Newcomer Information Centres (NIC)
The NICs’ goal is to meet the immediate, short term needs of newcomers and deliver accurate and relevant information to ensure clients can access the services for which they are eligible.
The NICs provide information related to:
1. Employment
3. Health Care
4. Housing
5. Legal and Social Services
6. Recreation
In 2016, our focus was on assisting Syrian refugees and supporting them with their immediate settlement needs. The clients received customized one-on-one support as well as had an opportunity to participate in a series of group sessions that were delivered in their native languages.
Some of the topics included:
1. Financial Literacy
2. Personal Income Tax
3. Preparing for First Canadian Winter
4. Adapting to Canadian Culture
5. Shopping Tips
6. Consumer Rights
Over 700 Syrian clients were assisted at our onsite and offsite locations. We have 5 locations and provide a number of Itinerant Services at locations across the GTA.
Career Coach
The Career Coach is a mobile Employment and Settlement project. In 2016, ACHĒV reached over 540 newcomers through one-on-one employment counselling, as well as through various workshops within the community. The mobile unit travelled to under-served areas, provided outreach, and encouraged youth and newcomers to “walk-in” for friendly and supportive service. This past year, with the influx of Syrian refugees into the Peel/Halton Region, the Career Coach offered some unique one-to-one and group workshop assistance to help Syrian refugees.
CLARS Language Assessment Centres
Achēv has been assessing in Peel and Halton Regions for over 20 years and in York Region for 6 years. Our assessors provide a friendly welcome; assess English or French skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing; and make referrals to language classes to best meet client needs.
In 2016, we provided 14,920 assessments in Peel and Halton and administered 8,980 assessments in York and Durham for a total of 23,900 assessments.
Language Assessment Centre staff assisted community efforts to support Syrian refugees by providing a warm welcome and timely assessment and referral to enable them to begin learning one of Canada’s official languages. This past year, we expanded itinerant assessment services in Mississauga to include assessments at a local hotel providing temporary housing to refugees from Syria and other countries.
In honour of World Refugee Day, we recognized the strength, courage, and perseverance these new Canadians whom we now consider our friends and family.
If there is any way we can help, or if you have any questions about any of our programs or services, please contact us by phone at (905) 949-0049 or by email at info@achev.ca.
Achēv offers free weekly events and workshops to help you achieve your employment and career goals. Visit our Events Calendar to see all of our upcoming events.
