What is a Newcomer?

A newcomer is an immigrant or refugee who has been in Canada for a short time, usually less than 3 or 5 years. Newcomers have access to lots of services at settlement agencies, like language and immigrant help.

 What is an Immigrant?

An immigrant is someone who has moved from their country of origin (their homeland) to another country, for example, Canada, to become a citizen of that country. Just visiting a country, even to work for a few months, does not make you an immigrant. Immigrants are people who live permanently somewhere other than their homeland.

What is a Refugee?

Refugees and people needing protection are people escaping being persecuted in their homeland. This means that if they stay or return to their homeland, they will risk being tortured, killed, suffer cruel treatment, or worse. Refugees seek protection in safe countries, such as Canada.

What is an Undocumented Immigrant?

An undocumented immigrant is an immigrant who has moved from their homeland to another country like Canada to become a citizen. However, undocumented immigrants are different from documented immigrants because their immigration status is unknown or unofficial.

• Undocumented immigrants are also known as: Uninsured person, Sans papier (without papers), non-status, without status