Before you rely on this guide: Mentorfy is a software company, not part of IRCC. This is general information drawn from IRCC's published documents, which are listed at the end. Your Program Officer decides how anything applies to your agreement.
The short version
- IRCC's most recent national call for proposals (CFP2024) closed on January 31, 2024. The agreements it produced run from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2028, and IRCC has said it intends to extend most of them by one year, to March 31, 2029.
- Funding is going down. IRCC told funded providers the Settlement Program must find about $100 million in savings for 2026–27, with more in the two years after.
- Mentoring is a named activity in the 2024 call-for-proposals guidelines for employment-related services, which also say to "leverage technology to reduce barriers to access" where possible.
- IRCC's terms and conditions don't mention software by name. A mentoring platform could sit under delivery assistance tools or overhead. Confirm this with your Program Officer.
- In a shrinking budget, a tool is only worth it if it frees more staff time, or protects more outcomes, than it costs. Work that out before you talk to any vendor, including us.
What changed in 2026
In January 2026, IRCC wrote to every funded service provider organization to explain how Budget 2025, the latest Immigration Levels Plan and the federal Comprehensive Expenditure Review would affect the Settlement Program. IRCC's 2026 Deputy Minister transition binder gives the planned funding for settlement outside Québec:
| Fiscal year | Funding |
|---|---|
| 2025–26 | $1.125 billion |
| 2026–27 | About $935.7 million, 9.5% below earlier plans |
| 2027–28 | $895.0 million |
| 2028–29 | $783.7 million |
IRCC's documents give this timeline:
- February 26, 2026IRCC shared revised funding amounts with providers. It is renegotiating existing agreements to reduce them.
- April 2026Economic-class permanent residents are eligible for settlement services for six years, falling to five years from April 2027.
- By May 2026Amendments and extensions for the direct-service agreements most affected by budget cuts.
- May to July 2026One-year extensions for the remaining direct-service agreements where budgets were less affected or unchanged.
- December 2026 to March 2027Expected: one-year extensions and refinements for Francophone direct services, and decisions on indirect services as part of the Settlement Program renewal.
- March 31, 2029The new end date for most agreements, if the extensions go ahead as planned.
IRCC has said Francophone service providers "will not see any reductions to their annual settlement funding as part of this exercise." The renewal of the Settlement and Resettlement Assistance Programs, which began in fall 2025, is looking at topics including the length of eligibility and digital renewal.
For most agencies, this means the next two years are about delivering the same results with less, inside an agreement you already have. Those results will also be the case you make when the program is renewed.
Where mentoring fits in your agreement
The 2024 call-for-proposals guidelines, which produced the current agreements, describe mentoring in employment-related services and in community connections.
Employment-related services
Under "workplace connections", which help clients connect with professionals and employers, IRCC lists:
Mentoring, including one-on-one or group mentoring, or speed mentoring events
The same guidelines name peer employment mentorship or coaching for youth, and peer mentorship and networking tailored for racialized newcomer women. For the employment-related services stream as a whole, they list in-person, remote staff-led, remote self-directed and email, text or phone delivery, and say "where possible, leverage technology to reduce barriers to access."
Community connections
Here mentoring is informal. Peer support for youth "can include elements of informal mentorship", and in-person services are prioritized. If your mentoring sits under community connections, check how much of it your agreement allows online.
The outcomes IRCC measures are broader than mentoring itself. For employment-related services, the first expected outcome is that clients improve their labour market knowledge, employment-related language skills, job search skills and connections, and acquire Canadian work experience. Your mentoring records are most useful when they show progress against those outcomes, not just how many people were matched.
Where a software cost might sit in your budget
The Settlement Program terms and conditions, last updated March 31, 2026, list the costs IRCC can fund. Every cost must be "reasonable and essential". None of the categories mentions software or technology by name. These are the closest:
| Category in the terms and conditions | How a mentoring platform might fit |
|---|---|
| "Delivery assistance tools and other associated costs, such as textbooks and other instructional materials, to support direct service delivery to clients" | The closest fit when the platform is how the mentoring service is delivered: intake, matching, meetings, goals and surveys. |
| "Overhead costs (i.e. other non-salary program delivery costs)" | A possible fit if your agreement already groups subscriptions and software here. |
| "Capital expenditures up to 15% of the total value of the program delivery" | Unlikely to apply. An annual subscription is usually an operating cost, not a capital purchase. |
| "Costs associated with administration" | Best avoided. IRCC says administration costs "will be kept to a minimum". |
How your agreement treats the cost is IRCC's decision, not ours or yours. Ask before you commit.
Making the case when budgets are shrinking
The case for a mentoring tool in 2026 isn't "we'd like new software". It's whether the tool lets your team run the same program, or a better one, with less staff time. Staff time is almost always your biggest cost, so start there.
Count the hours you already spend
For one cohort, write down roughly how many staff hours go into each of these:
- Intake: collecting and checking applications from mentees and mentors
- Matching: reading profiles and pairing people
- Introductions and scheduling the first meetings
- Chasing pairs that have gone quiet
- Collecting surveys and progress updates
- Compiling numbers and stories for reports
Multiply the total by your loaded hourly cost for the staff involved, including benefits. That figure is what coordination already costs you, whether or not you buy anything.
Then make every vendor show their work
Ask any vendor, including us, to walk through those same tasks using your process and show which ones their tool removes or shortens. If the time it frees is worth less than the subscription, don't buy it. If it's worth more, you have a concrete case to take to your Program Officer and your board.
Protect the outcomes that make your renewal case
With eligibility for economic-class permanent residents getting shorter, those clients have less time to use the services you offer. A mentoring match that starts late, or a pair that quietly stops meeting, costs more than it used to. Spotting those problems early, and being able to show the outcomes you achieved, will matter when your agreement comes up for renewal.
When to raise it
- During an amendment or extension. If your agreement is being amended or extended, that's the natural moment to agree how a tool fits your budget.
- When planning the next fiscal year. IRCC's fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31, so raise it well before April 1, while next year's budget is still being set.
- Before the program renewal. IRCC expects to make decisions on indirect services, as part of its wider renewal of the Settlement Program, between December 2026 and March 2027. A record of results is your strongest input to whatever comes next.
Questions to ask your Program Officer
Take these to your next conversation. The answers will tell you whether a tool is possible, and how to put it in your budget.
- Is a mentoring platform subscription an eligible cost under our agreement? Which budget line would it sit under?
- Do we need an amendment to add it, or can we reallocate within our current budget?
- Can it be included in our upcoming amendment or extension?
- Is online delivery acceptable for the mentoring activities in our agreement?
- Are there privacy, security or data residency requirements for a third-party platform that holds client information?
- What would you like to see from our mentoring activities, beyond what we already report in iCARE?
Questions to ask any software vendor
Ask these of every option you look at. We've put Mentorfy's answers alongside, so you can hold us to them.
| Ask | Mentorfy's answer |
|---|---|
| Where is participant data stored, and who else handles it? | On servers in Québec. Video calls run on our own infrastructure in Canada. We share data only with the service providers needed to run the platform, under contract, and never sell it. |
| Which of our coordination tasks does it remove or shorten? | Book a walkthrough and bring your task list. We'll walk through it with you and tell you honestly where Mentorfy fits and where it doesn't. |
| Can we export participation and outcome records ourselves? | Yes. Admins can export records for reports themselves. |
| Is the price fixed for the year? Can we get a written quote? | Yes. Pricing is per member per year and known on day one; members you add partway through the year are pro-rated. We provide a written quote you can share with finance or include in a funding proposal or amendment. |
| Does the contract term line up with our funding? What happens if funding ends? | Contracts are annual and can line up with your funding period. If funding ends, you can leave at renewal with no penalty. |
| Can newcomers and volunteers use it in their own language? | Yes. Each participant can switch Mentorfy into their own language, and their choice changes only their own view. |
Put your own numbers to it
Our social ROI calculator estimates the social value of your program from your own figures, and can email you a report that explains the results in plain language. If you'd rather talk it through, book a 60-minute walkthrough and bring your task list.
Sources
Facts checked October 17, 2026. IRCC updates these documents often, so check the originals before you rely on a figure.
- IRCC: Canada's approach to settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees (Deputy Minister transition binder, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
- Settlement at Work: IRCC message to all funded service provider organizations (January 2026) (opens in a new tab)
- IRCC: Settlement Program terms and conditions (opens in a new tab)
- IRCC: Call for proposals 2024, employment-related services (archived) (opens in a new tab)
- IRCC: Call for proposals 2024, community connections (archived) (opens in a new tab)