The Jewish Child and Family Service (JCFS) had been getting a $100,000 per year from a grant from Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), a federal government agency, but on Nov 22, 2024 JCFS received notice that its application for the 2025-2028 contract was not approved. Therefore, the cut to the JCFS Settlement program is $100,000 annually for the next 3 years, which means there is a total cut of $300,000.
Al Benarroch, President and CEO of JCFS told the Winnipeg Jewish Review that he is aware of the five other Manitoba agencies who also did not get IRCC funding. They are Success Skills Centre, Canadian Muslim Women's Institute, Spence Neighborhood Association, Enhanced English Skills for Employment (EESE) and North End Women’s Centre.
The Winnipeg Jewish Review is not clear at this time whether any Muslim organization in Manitoba has received funding. Specifically, the Winnipeg Jewish Review is not clear whether Healthy Muslim Families, a Manitoba organization that also operates in Halifax received funding from the IRCC. The IRCC will post on its website the list of organizations that did receive funding at a later date.
When asked if there were other Jewish agencies who received funding in other provinces, Benarroch stated that when he learned of the cut, “I reached out to my Jewish Canadian colleagues that receive IRCC funding. Those were JIAS Toronto, Jewish Vocational Services in Toronto, and JFS Ottawa. They were all informed that their existing projects would be renewed, but their new project submissions would not. This is the same that I heard from other IRCC funded colleagues in general (i.e. non-Jewish). One difference between JCFS and our Jewish colleagues [referred to] is that they all serve non-Jews as well. JCFS Winnipeg’s Settlement program only serves Jews.”
A source told the Winnipeg Jewish Review that on a per capita basis Manitoba had more funded settlement programs than in other provinces, which may have meant that more programs in Manitoba were cut by the IRCC than in other provinces.
Benarroch stated that “I do know that there has been a steady decrease in settlement funding to the three Prairie provinces over the last few years.”
Currently JCFS has been providing settlement services to new immigrants from Israel (and for Hebrew speakers), many of whom have been leaving Israel due to the ongoing war, as well as other new immigrants from countries in South America and elsewhere.
Benarroch indicates that “the decisions from IRCC are final.” He was told by IRCC that “there is no process for appeal and all decisions are final.”
According to Benarroch, “JCFS has been funded by IRCC since 2012, when Ottawa decentralized funding from the provinces. Prior to that, the province of Manitoba had funded JCFS for immigration services for decades before 2012.”
Benarroch points out that “This annual grant makes up 40% of our settlement program funding. The program is made up of three full time staff.” The remainder is made up from the allocation JCFS receives from the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, a portion of JCFS’s United Way annual grant, JCFS’s endowment fund at the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, annual fundraising, various grants, and other sources of unrestricted funds. "
Benarroch also explained that “the IRCC operates on a 5 year funding cycle for all applications across Canada. This call for proposals was originally intended to be a 5 year grant but in 2024, when the government announced cuts to many programs, including immigration, the announcement was made that funding grants for immigration would be for 3 years. As such, the next granting cycle won't open until mid-2028.”
When asked if they had made any application for any other grant money to help make up the loss to JCFS from not getting the IRCC grant, Benarroch indicated that they worked with the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg to find other possible grant money. Jeff Lieberman, CEO of the Jewish Federation told the Winnipeg Jewish Review that the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg has "applied to the Manitoba Labour and Integration Newcomer Community Integration Support Program." The application was made December 30, 2024 and Lieberman says “We expect a decision sometime before April 1,2025." Lieberman notes “This program would provide funding from April 1,2025 to March 31,2026 .Lieberman adds, “We applied for the JCFS Settlement Services Program and for the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg’s Jewish Business Network under one application.”
Benarroch indicates “JCFS is intimately connected with the Jewish Federation in our immigration work, especially since immigration through the Grow Winnipeg initiative continues to be a high priority for our community.”
The Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations (MANSO) is the umbrella organization for all Manitoba settlement service providers.
Benarroch also noted that “Immigration has been a foundational pillar of all Jewish communities probably since “The first Babylonian exile and even the times of the Patriarchs.” In the meantime, JCFS has been fundraising to try to make up the loss of the IRCC grant.
The war on the southern and northern fronts in Israel the past 14 months has resulted in 40 new families from Israel arriving to Winnipeg under the Temporary Work Visa Program.
