Youth mental health services for newcomers to Canada are now available in additional languages of Dari, Pashto, Ukrainian and Russian.
The services would be delivered with help of Kids Help Phone.
Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced this today in Toronto as part of events to mark World Refugee Day 2022.
The minister said the young Afghan refugees he met while welcoming them to Canada touched him.
“When we do refugee resettlement we don’t just do it for altruistic reasons.
“Bringing people into Canada is not the end of the story.
“We have to provide them with the support they need when they arrive,” said the minister.
The Kids Help Phone has provided mental health services over the past 33 years in Canada’s official languages.
The need for additional services has been necessitated by the refugee crisis in Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Katherine Hay, President and CEO Kids Help Phone said the current situation of new arrivals from Afghanistan and Ukraine has resulted in additional services for youth of the two countries adding that the organization has extended professional counseling in Dari, Pashto, Ukrainian and Russian using interpreters.
Kids Help Phone had filled the void during the pandemic lockdowns. Since March 2020, the organization had supported youth through its various platforms.
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, IRCC, collaborated with Kids Help Phone to expand the delivery of services in the four languages.
