Between 2005 and 2007, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), now known as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), launched the Case Management Pilot (CMP) in Toronto. The pilot was delivered in partnership with the YMCA of Greater Toronto and COSTI Immigrant Services, a Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) service delivery site.
The YMCA of Greater Toronto, where the National Coordination Team is based, and partner service provider organizations across Canada coordinate and deliver this dynamic program. We work together to ensure continual collaboration, improvement, and moving towards a shared vision of helping government assisted refugees meet the challenges of integrating and settling into a new country.
Following the success of the two-year pilot, CIC (now IRCC) expanded its approach by introducing the Client Support Services (CSS) pilot project with YMCA of Greater Toronto serving as the provincial coordinator, supporting six RAP service delivery sites across Ontario:
- Toronto: COSTI Immigrant Services
- Kitchener: Reception House Waterloo Region
- Hamilton: Wesley
- London: London Cross Cultural Learner Centre
- Windsor: Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County
- Ottawa: Catholic Centre for Immigrants
Building on lessons learned from the CMP, the CSS pilot aimed to:
- Enhance RAP services and support smoother transitions to settlement and community services for Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs)
- Provide ongoing, needs-based support through continuous assessment and mobile, community-based service delivery
- Test innovative service delivery models tailored to local community needs
- Identify core program components and document promising practices
In 2009, an evaluation of the CSS pilot found that the program successfully met its objectives. As a result, in 2010, CSS was established as a long-term program, funded by CIC (now IRCC).
On November 1, 2017, the CSS program expanded to become a national program—the National GAR Case Management Program—with some sites also providing services to non-GAR clients with significant and complex needs.
Since 2025, the program has further evolved, expanding eligibility across all sites beyond Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) to include all clients who qualify for case management services, in alignment with IRCC’s Case Management Framework.