COSTI Immigrant Services
COSTI Settlement Services
COSTI's settlement services in Ontario are free. They cover orientation, forms, interpretation, referrals, and employment guidance, including credential recognition.
Last checked October 19, 2026
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
IRCC settlement service finder
The federal government funds free settlement help outside Quebec: job search, language classes, help getting licensed, and someone to build a settlement plan with you. A postal-code search finds the agency.
- Last checked
- October 19, 2026
- Source
- IRCC, find free newcomer services
- Audience
- Permanent residents, Refugees and protected persons, Temporary workers
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What we could verify
- Services are free if you are eligible. IRCC says it funds the agencies. The agencies may also offer other programs of their own.
- You can filter by language, online or in person, and by need: jobs, licensing, language assessment, English or French classes, a settlement plan, community connections, and services for women, youth, seniors, refugees, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.
- Eligible groups include permanent residents, people approved in principle, protected persons, and some temporary residents in programs such as the Atlantic Immigration Program and the Rural and Northern Immigration Program.
- Starting April 1, 2026, economic-class permanent residents can use these services for up to six years from the day they became a PR. From April 1, 2027, that window is five years.
- The finder does not include Quebec. IRCC points Quebec residents to provincial integration services.
This is the front door. Before you pay a consultant for a resume rewrite or a 'settlement package,' search this tool. Language classes through LINC or CLIC, help with a regulated profession, and a one-to-one settlement plan are the kinds of things the funded agencies do at no charge.
Eligibility is narrower than 'anyone who just arrived.' International students and most temporary workers are not on the main federal list unless they are in a named program. British Columbia funds a separate program for many of those groups. Call or email the agency before you travel. IRCC says the listing can include services the organization offers beyond the funded ones, so ask what is free.
Who it is for
Permanent residents, including resettled refugees; successful PR applicants with an approval letter; protected persons; and temporary residents in specific economic programs named on the page. Economic-class PRs face the time limit that started April 1, 2026. Quebec is outside this finder.
How to act on it
Open the finder, enter a city or postal code, and filter by what you need. Contact the agency before you go. Do not type a full street address into the search.
Also in settlement services
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
IRCC pre-arrival services
If your permanent residence is approved and you are still outside Canada, you can register for free online settlement services before you fly. Temporary residents are not eligible.
Last checked October 19, 2026
Immigrant Services Society of BC
ISSofBC
ISSofBC is a large B.C. settlement agency. It says its settlement, employment, and language services for newcomers in the province are free.
Last checked October 19, 2026