Many newcomers find it challenging to settle and integrate into Canada (Omidvar & Richmond, 2003). It is hard to adapt and change their way of living. Being a newcomer means a new beginning: a new environment, new community. Often, there is isolation and difficulty to access to information, including how to apply for social assistance, healthcare and health insurance, or a Canadian job. Newcomers face various barriers, including language, employment, and housing. On top of that, they often need to get used “everyday” changes such as the weather and adapting to new cultures, behaviors, and values

More specifically, many Filipino women bear particular weight in terms of their de-professionalized employment (often but not limited to low-paid caregiving work), as well as delayed reunification with their spouses and/or children (see work of Jill Hanley, Ilyan Ferrer, and Jahhon Koo here at the School of Social Work)

Conducting an informal needs assessment with the participants, to see what services/information they require, and would like access through the monthly community meals program.
For some context: the Montreal neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges is home to the largest number of immigrants in the city.
According to the portrait done by the Community Development Corporation of Côte-des-Neiges (CDC CDN), some of the statistics include: In 2011, there were 50,480 permanent immigrants (51.6%) and 7,205 temporary immigrants (work and study visas, etc.); Newcomers who arrived in the last 5 years, from 2006 to 2011, represent 34.1% of all immigrants (17,205 people); 43% of immigrants come from Asia. The Philippines is the Asian country of origin most represented with 9330 immigrants. A socio-demographic profile done by Ville de Montréal in 2016 about Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce states that new immigrants represent 26% of the immigrant population. Among the 76,215 immigrants present in Côte-des-Neiges, 19,555 people, or 26%, are new immigrants who got their landed immigrant status between 2011 and 2016.