New Canadians Health Centre

Compromised health at multiple levels, with mental health at the forefront, is a major challenge for refugees. The circumstances that drive refugees from their home countries combined, for many, with extended periods in refugee camps, exacerbate health concerns. People have often witnessed or experienced systematic violence, torture, rape, imprisonment, and starvation, and have faced the loss of family members, home, and community. Others have dealt with discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, and religion.

Without proper detection and treatment of treatable conditions upon arrival to Canada, refugees’ health can decline, creating preventable costs in the health system. In the transition to life in Canada, income inequalities, language barriers, and unfamiliar social and cultural environments, layered with the loss of status and social networks, profoundly impact refugees’ quality of life and can cause secondary trauma in the resettlement and integration experience

The NCHC provides integrated primary healthcare services delivered by an interdisciplinary staff of physicians and allied health professionals (e.g., nurses, mental health therapists, settlement counsellors, cultural brokers, social workers, cultural/language interpreters). Refugees are provided with diverse services related to physical health (preventive screening, immunization, treatment of acute and chronic conditions), mental health (counselling and referrals), and settlement and integration (support with settlement, housing, and health/social system navigation). 

The NCHC aims to connect refugees with a family physician in the community within 2 years of settlement.