LIVING
Anxiety and stress can be overwhelming for those looking to build a new life in Canada. Settlement programs along with wellness tools and resources to boost mental health are available to support immigrants reach their potential and thrive in their new home. By Baisakhi Roy
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hirty-five-year old Sharmistha Manna’s enthusiasm is both unexpected and infectious. The Indian-born immigrant has been pounding the pavement for a job and it hasn’t been easy. The interviews haven’t been great, and she misses her family in Kolkata, India, but she’s keeping her chin up. “It has to happen, right?” she asks rhetorically. “I wouldn’t be offered Canadian immigration if the government didn’t think I was worthy enough,” she says. Setting up one’s life in Canada from scratch can be daunting and affects each individual differently. Like Manna, the biggest concern for new immigrants is being unemployed or underemployed. Factor in culture shock, the winter months, language barriers and the absence of familial and social support – and you have an individual who can very well be looking at a nervous breakdown. A 2016 study conducted by the Mental Health Commission of Canada mentioned that immigrants when they first arrive, are generally in better mental health than the Canadian-born population. Known as the “healthy immigrant effect,” this condition slowly dwindles over time for lack of linguistically and culturally appropriate support services, social isolation and the fear of stigma from having a so-called “mental health problem.”
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CANADIAN IMMIGRANT Volume 17 Issue 1 | 2020
The good news is that there are a whole range of mental health wellness and settlement programs available to offer support for new immigrants.
Settlement support Like Manna, one of the main challenges that new immigrants face that causes stress and anxiety is, finding appropriate work. And like her, the first stop for many on arrival is to approach their local settlement agency for support. Manna learned about a number of settlement services for newcomers at the Brampton Multicultural Community Centre
(BMC) and attended a job orientation session. This gave her the opportunity to network and get a sense of the Canadian job market. Settlement agencies like BMC offer tons of support to new immigrants, ranging from employment services including networking events and job fairs, one-on-one sessions with career consultants and mentoring support. A comprehensive list of newcomer service providers is available on the Government of Canada website. According to recent reports, present-day newcomers are faring much better in comparison to their predecessors in terms of unemployment rate (which has decreased) and wages (which has increased). This is partly attributed to federal and provincial funding for newcomer programs which has increased to more than $1.5 billion over the past two decades.
Wellness programs
above Sharmistha Manna, an immigrant from India, is currently in the throes of job hunting
Services extend much beyond employment services in these agencies. Many programs at BMC are focused on health and wellness. “We offer the Mind Your Health program, funded by the United United Way Greater Toronto, which provides culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate self-awareness programs to newcomer clients. The program aims to raise awareness, reduce stigma and promote mental
