Reports to:                       Senior Coordinator of Settlement & Integration

Position Location:           4460 Beresford St. #100, Burnaby, British Columbia

Hours of Work:                28 hours per week, flexible schedule Monday-Friday with some

                                            Evenings and weekends

Pay Range:                        $24.52 per hour plus benefits package

Starting date:                   June 2nd, 2025

The Burnaby Neighbourhood House (BNH) is a community-based social service non-profit agency that welcomes and connects neighbours while also offering low barrier programs and supports to address community needs.  

Overview of the Position:

The Settlement Counsellor is an integral member of the Settlement and Integration team and other teams across BNH, responsible for creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for newcomer immigrants and refugees of all ages and backgrounds.  The role involves direct services to individual and families to address their immediate settlement needs, provide needs/assets assessment, settlement action plan, information and orientations and effective referrals to specialized programs and services. The services will be provided in one-on-one and/or group sessions on a range of topic for newcomers to access services and navigate the Canadian systems and resources. The Settlement Counsellor will plan, organize, collaborate, implement and evaluate community-based settlement services and integration programs and outreach to new immigrants and refugees to promote self-advocacy and full participation in Canadian society. 

Duties and Responsibilities

•         Provide newcomers with support, follow-through, ongoing assessment and re-assessment to reach their settlement outcome.

•         Assist with clients’ needs management - conduct related intake, initial needs/assets assessments, and referrals to a range of services for portfolio of newcomer clients.

•         Provide settlement and orientation to clients through one-to-one and group activities and work with the Settlement team to design and deliver orientation workshops on varying identified topics.

•         Assist with individualized action plans, provide monitoring, evaluation and ongoing support, coaching and linking to community and career/employment opportunities.

•         Facilitate creating a welcoming and inclusive community, where newcomers can find services, connections, and knowledge that will enable their success and inclusion.

•         Support newcomer clients to overcome barriers to accessing services – this could include assisted referrals to various locations to access programs and resources or accompaniments.

•         Initiate community outreach and engagement strategies to promote program services for newcomers.

•         Collaborate and build relationships with other community agencies and settlement service providers.

•         Work with various BNH teams to refer and intentionally connect newcomers to the in House programs.

•         Maintain current inventory of resources for newcomers and stay up-to-date on trends in settlement policies and practices.

•         Facilitate and promote cross-cultural understanding and connections through a Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) framework.

•         Maintain confidential client case files with timely and accurate records management and electronic data entry, analysis and reporting to support learning and compliance.

•         Willing to be trained in iCARE, and other IRCC requirements and systems.

•         Participation in learning and training opportunities, Settlement Team meetings, and BNH meetings/events.

•         Support with other activities within the scope of the position, as might be needed.

Qualifications, Experience, Skills and Abilities:

•         Lived and work experiences related to migration and immigration processes.

•         Completion of a diploma or bachelor’s degree and/or equivalent work experience in the field with at least 2-3 years of work experience in newcomer’s settlement, community development and engagement.

•         Knowledge of anti-oppression, anti-racism, JEDI, strengths-based approaches and community-based engagement practices.

•         Passion for serving and supporting people, creating a safe space for newcomers and finding a sense of belonging and connection to community.

•         Demonstrated ability to effectively deal with people from diverse personal and professional backgrounds.

•         Experience in assessing client needs and completing and monitoring settlement action plans.

•         Demonstrated experience in design, delivery and facilitation of group presentations and workshops.

•         Knowledge of community resources, Canadian legal, political, cultural, employment, educational, and economic systems, and community resources.

•         Strong teamwork, adaptable problem solving, stress management skills, and comfortable fostering a collaborative environment among program teams and stakeholders.

•         Experience working with client database systems, including data entry, analysis and reporting. Knowledge of iCARE would be ideal.

•         Strong organizational, writing skills, ability to produce anecdotal/activity reports, and manage collected data.

•         Outstanding communication skills; and fluency (written and verbal) in English, Dari, Farsi and Pashtu languages.

•         Working knowledge of standard office equipment and software applications (word processing and spreadsheets).

•         Current and satisfactory Criminal Records Check.

BNH is an equal opportunity employer. We place a high value on diversity and encourage qualified individuals from all backgrounds and identities to apply. We thank all applicants, however, only short-listed applicants will be contacted.