Frequently asked questions and answers about the reform of the Integration Act (KOTO24)

The comprehensive reform of the Integration Act is based on the Parliament’s requirements (TrVM 6/2018) and the Parliament’s discussions of the Report of the Finnish Government on the need for a reform in integration promotion, which was based on the said requirements. For example, the Parliament required that integration be sped up starting from the early stage, shortening the integration period, transferring the overall responsibility for integration services to municipalities, promoting the employment of women, increasing the role of the third sector, improving the quality of language studies and incorporating a language examination into the studies.

The comprehensive reform of the Integration Act also stems from significant legislative and structural reforms that affect the responsibilities of the actors involved and the promotion of integration. The reform of employment services (TE24), in particular, affects the responsibilities of the authorities with regard to the promotion of integration. The reform of health and social services is also taken into account in the reform of the Integration Act. Starting from 1 January 2023, the wellbeing services counties have been responsible for the organisation of health and social services, and the new Integration Act includes more detailed provisions on the role of the wellbeing services counties in the promotion of immigrant integration and increases multi-sectoral cooperation.

More information:
Report of the Finnish Government on the need for a reform in integration promotion (in Finnish)

The comprehensive reform of the Integration Act will improve integration and strengthen the inclusion of immigrants in society. The reform will facilitate the path of immigrants towards employment and improve access to services particularly for immigrant women and other immigrants who are not part of the workforce. The objective of the comprehensive reform is to promote equality, non-discrimination and good relations between population groups. The reform will also clarify the responsibilities of different actors and strengthen multi-sectoral cooperation.

The objectives of the comprehensive reform of the Integration Act (KOTO24) include, for example:

• promoting immigrants’ integration, employment, wellbeing and inclusion in society
• promoting equality, non-discrimination and good relations between population groups
• enhancing the integration of immigrants who are not part of the workforce and improve their access to integration services
• clarifying the responsibilities of different actors and updating the Integration Act to correspond to the changes in the allocation of duties between the authorities
• strengthening multi-sectoral cooperation and cooperation with organisations and employers

The reform will increase the municipal responsibility for promoting integration. Municipalities have previously been responsible for the promotion of integration and the reception of refugees. Following the TE24 reforms, they will also be responsible for the organisation of employment services. 

New tasks have been assigned to municipalities, including the organisation of low-threshold guidance and counselling services and the municipality or employment authority preparing an integration programme, which is a set of services in early-stage integration. The employment authorities are responsible for the organisation of services for persons who are jobseekers. The Integration Act includes provisions on the minimum contents of an integration programme drawn up by a municipality/employment authority. Pursuant to the Act, integration programmes will need to include a new multilingual civic orientation, for example. Going forward, integration training will include a final examination of Finnish or Swedish proficiency. 

The new Act will expand the target group of integration services. Going forward, the employment authority will be responsible for conducting an assessment of service needs related to integration and skills (referred to as an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration in the legislation) for immigrants who are unemployed jobseekers and whose first residence permit, right of residence or residence card was issued no more than three years prior. The municipality is responsible for carrying out an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration for immigrants who are receiving social assistance on a non-temporary basis, receive child home care allowance, have a refugee background, are unaccompanied minors and for persons who request an assessment or regarding whom the authorities have been contacted as referred to in section 9 of the Act and who are deemed to need such an assessment, provided that no more than three years have elapsed from the issuance of their first residence permit, right of residence or residence card. For some, the service needs related to integration and skills are assessed on a multi-sectoral basis in cooperation with the wellbeing services county.

Under the new legislation, the maximum duration of integration plans will be shortened to two years as a rule. However, the grounds for extension laid out in the legislation will remain unchanged (e.g. the need for special measures, parental leave, illness or injury). The legislation also includes new grounds for extension, including an extension on the basis of part-time participation in an integration plan for a person receiving child home care allowance. The legislation also includes amendments to the conditions for supporting self-motivated studies and the criteria for extending the integration plan for a person under 25 years of age to enable them to complete their self-motivated studies.

Services promoting integration will be organised as part of the new integration programme drawn up by the municipality/employment authority, through services provided by the municipality, employment authority, wellbeing services county and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), as well as through the activities of organisations, associations or communities. The new Act also lays out provisions on the role of different authorities in planning, developing and monitoring the promotion of integration.

The comprehensive reform of the Integration Act is linked to the TE24 reform, in which the responsibility for organising public employment services, the procurement tasks related to the public employment services provided by Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres) and services in payment matters related to the public employment services of the KEHA Centre is transferred to municipal employment authorities. Starting from 1 January 2025, employment services will be transferred to employment areas, which will be municipalities or municipal co-management areas. A total of 45 employment areas will be formed.

The comprehensive reform of the Integration Act has been prepared concurrently with the TE24 reform, and the reforms will take effect at the same time on 1 January 2025.  

Following the TE24 and KOTO 24 reforms, municipalities will have overall responsibility for the promotion of immigrant integration. The municipal employment authority will be responsible for the organisation of services for integration customers who are jobseekers. Services for integration customers who are jobseekers will be governed by both the Act on the Organisation of Employment Services and the Integration Act. A municipality can organise services promoting integration for immigrants who are not within the scope of employment services either alone or in cooperation with other municipalities. The employment authority can also organise services promoting integration for immigrants who are not within the scope of employment services if the municipalities agreed on such an arrangement. 

As most integration customers (approximately 80%) are jobseekers, cooperation with the employment authority plays a key role also with regard to integration customers who are not part of the workforce. It should also be taken into consideration that not being part of the workforce is often temporary, and the objective is to also promote the employment, or employment-supporting capabilities, of those who are not part of the workforce. 

More information: 
TE24 reform

Starting from the beginning of 2025, integration will be promoted through the services of the municipality and employment authority, basic services, and the activities and services of the wellbeing services county and other authorities, the third sector and educational institutions. 

The promotion of integration for unemployed jobseekers will continue to be linked to employment services. The employment authority will be responsible for organising the services included in the integration programme for immigrants who are jobseekers. 

Municipalities can decide how to organise integration services for immigrants who are not part of the workforce. A municipality can organise the services alone or in cooperation with other municipalities. Municipalities can also decide in cooperation with the employment authority that the employment authority will also organise integration services for immigrants who are not part of the workforce. 

The promotion of integration requires multi-sectoral cooperation. With this in mind, it is important for the actors involved to ensure that their division of responsibilities and cooperation practices are clearly defined. 

Municipalities can organise services using models that are based on cooperation between municipalities. Municipalities can also decide in cooperation with the employment authority that the employment authority will also organise integration services for immigrants who are not part of the workforce. Models based on cooperation are governed by the Local Government Act (410/2015). Municipalities can decide on the scope of the cooperation. For example, they can choose to only provide certain services on a cooperative basis. 

More information: 
Employment areas
Local Government Act

An integration programme refers to a set of early-stage services for an immigrant, organised by a municipality. The objective of the services included in an integration programme is to promote the immigrant’s integration, employment or entrepreneurship, skills and working life competencies. An integration programme also supports the realisation of non-discrimination, inclusion and equality, as well as health and wellbeing. The services included in an integration programme support day-to-day civic skills and participation in the activities of non-governmental organisations and other activities in society. 

The employment authority is responsible for organising the services included in the integration programme for immigrants who are jobseekers. The municipality is responsible for organising services for other immigrants and integration customers. Municipalities can decide how to organise services include in the integration programme for immigrants who are not part of the workforce.

The Integration Act includes provisions on the minimum contents of an integration programme. At a minimum, an integration programme must include the following:

1. an assessment of service needs related to integration and skills (referred to as an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration in the legislation) or a multi-sectoral assessment of service needs related to integration and skills, 
2. an integration plan drawn up on the basis of the above, and a multi-sectoral version of it, 
3. multilingual civic orientation, 
4. integration training and a final examination of language proficiency, 
5. other training and services, 
6. guidance and counselling.

The municipality and the employment authority can also develop their own services to be incorporated into an integration programme. An integration programme must take into account the multi-sectoral approach and cooperation with third-sector operators and employers.

An assessment of service needs related to integration and skills (referred to as an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration in the legislation) and drawing up an integration plan is a matter of exercising public authority. The municipality must have an official who has liability for acts in office to perform these tasks. The municipality cannot outsource these tasks. 

However, the municipality and employment authority can decide whether they produce the following services themselves or acquire them from a training provider, organisation or other service provider, for example:

• An expert assessment conducted as part of the assessment of service needs related to integration and skills (referred to as an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration in the legislation), for example to assess language proficiency.
• integration training
• multilingual civic orientation

Read more: 
Integration program

The Integration Act (1386/2010), which is in force until the end of 2024, provides for a municipal planning document called an integration programme. When the new Integration Act enters into force, the concept of the integration programme as referred to in the previous act will be abandoned. The integration programme provided for in the reformed act will not replace or correspond with the integration programme under the current act. The new integration programme is therefore a new element. Municipalities will continue to have an obligation to plan, develop and monitor integration. This task is provided for in chapter 5 of the reformed Integration Act. 

When translated directly into English, there is no corresponding difference between the Finnish terms referring to the integration programmes, ‘kotoutumisohjelma’ and ‘kotouttamisohjelma’. The integration programme referred to in the reformed act (681/2023) does not correspond to the term municipal integration programme in force until the end of 2024 (1386/2010), which may have been also referred to as an integration programme in communications and non-legal texts.

Read more: 
Integration program

They do not. The integration programme is used as a tool for customer work in the early stages of integration. Together with the customer, the employee selects from the integration programme’s service package the services that will support the customer’s individual integration and inclusion in working life in the best possible way. Participation in the services is agreed in the customer’s individual integration plan.

Read more: 
Integration program

As part of the comprehensive reform of the Integration Act, all immigrants shall be provided with

• basic information on Finland
• low-threshold guidance and counselling
• general public services.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is currently responsible for basic information materials. The basic information materials that are currently available consist of the “Welcome to Finland” guide or brochure. Municipalities are responsible for low-threshold guidance and counselling. Municipalities, employment authorities, wellbeing services counties and other authorities must also ensure that the services in their general service system are available for, and suitable to, immigrants. 

The employment authority provides unemployed jobseekers with services in accordance with the integration programme, such as an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration, and an integration plan.  The municipality is required to conduct an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration and, if necessary, an integration plan based on that assessment that specifies other services in accordance with the integration programme for immigrants whose first residence permit, right of residence or residence card was issued no more than three years prior and who are: 

• receiving social assistance on a non-temporary basis
• receiving child home care allowance
• unaccompanied minors
• other persons with refugee backgrounds or victims of human trafficking 
• other persons who are deemed to need the services in question.

Starting from 1 January 2025, the initial assessment will be replaced by an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration, the aim of which is to improve early-stage integration and guidance towards services that support integration and employment. The assessment of service needs related to skills and integration includes an initial interview and, where necessary, more detailed measures, such as expert assessments. 

Assessments of service needs related to skills and integration include assessing the following, for example:

• the immigrant’s skills, 
• competencies related to employment, studying and other aspects of integration, and 
• the need for training and education and other services promoting integration. 

The assessment includes evaluating the immigrant’s goals and wishes, previous education, work history, language skills, work ability and operating capacity insofar it influences their preparedness for employment and integration, and other factors that have a significant effect on employment and integration. The multi-sectoral assessment also includes evaluating needs pertaining to social services, healthcare and rehabilitation. 

• The employment authority conducts the assessment of service needs related to skills and integration for immigrants who are unemployed jobseekers. 
• The municipality conducts the assessment for persons referred to in section 2, subsection 3 or 4 of the Integration Act, including beneficiaries of international protection and their family members, persons receiving social assistance on a non-temporary basis, persons receiving child home care allowance, unaccompanied minors, victims of human trafficking and persons who otherwise require an assessment. 

The objective of the assessment of service needs related to skills and integration is to improve the Finnish or Swedish language proficiency, civic knowledge and inclusion in society especially for persons who are not part of the workforce, particularly parents caring for children at home.

The municipality or employment authority shall conduct the assessment of skills and service needs on a multi-sectoral basis in cooperation with the wellbeing county for persons in the following categories: 

• quota refugees
• unaccompanied minors
• victims of human trafficking
• persons receiving social assistance on a non-temporary basis
• other persons whose service needs require the reconciliation of services for which the responsibility for organising the service lies with the municipality and wellbeing services county.

The municipality or employment authority invites the wellbeing services county to participate in conducting a multi-sectoral assessment of service needs. However, the municipality or employment authority may conduct the assessment without the involvement of the wellbeing services county if it is apparent that the immigrant does not have integration-related service needs concerning social services and healthcare.

On the basis of the assessment of service needs related to skills and integration, the municipality or employment authority draws up an integration plan, or a multi-sectoral version thereof together with the wellbeing services county, according to the person’s needs. 

The assessment of service needs related to skills and integration can also be referred to the assessment of service needs related to integration and skills.

The municipality or the employment authority and the wellbeing services county together conduct a multi-sectoral assessment of service needs related to skills and integration for persons in the following groups: 

• quota refugees
• unaccompanied minors
• victims of human trafficking
• persons receiving social assistance on a non-temporary basis

A multi-sectoral assessment of service needs related to skills and integration shall also be conducted for other persons whose service needs require the reconciliation of services for which the responsibility for organising the service lies with the municipality and wellbeing services county. For example, the person may be a jobseeker.

However, the municipality or employment authority may conduct the assessment without the involvement of the wellbeing services county if it is apparent that the immigrant does not have integration-related service needs concerning social services and healthcare. The municipality or employment authority can also conduct the assessment without the involvement of the wellbeing services county for other justified reasons. 

The municipality or employment authority requests the wellbeing services county to participate in conducting the assessment when the law requires it. It is recommended that municipalities, employment authorities and wellbeing services counties jointly agree on the more detailed practices and contact persons related to the assessments.

The comprehensive reform will make integration plans more goal-oriented and strengthen the link between the promotion of integration and working life. Following the reforms, the integration plan will still specify the immigrant’s individual goals for integration and employment or entrepreneurship both for the longer term and for the duration of the integration plan. The immigrant’s wishes, skills, life stage, work history and educational background must be taken in account in setting the individual goals.  As a rule, the goals emphasise employment, except for persons under 25 years of age, in whose case the goal, as a rule, must be the completion of upper secondary education at a minimum. 

Integration plans have individual lengths. The comprehensive reform sets a two-year limit for the maximum duration of integration plans. However, as is the case under the current legislation, the new Act includes provisions on grounds for extending an integration plan. Examples of the grounds for an extension include the need for special measures and the plan being interrupted due to parental leave, illness or injury, for instance. The legislation also includes new grounds for extension, including an extension on the basis of part-time participation in an integration plan for a person receiving child home care allowance. The comprehensive reform also includes amendments to the conditions for supporting self-motivated studies, including criteria for extending the integration plan for a person under 25 years of age to enable them to complete their self-motivated studies.

Further measures to promote employment are specified in an integration plan, as has been the case previously, if the person has not found employment before the expiration of the integration plan. 

The integration plan specifies services promoting integration, employment or entrepreneurship, health and wellbeing and civic capabilities, participation in the activities of organisations, associations or communities, Finnish or Swedish language studies, and guidance and counselling. Where necessary, the municipality must guide an immigrant to services in cooperation with the authority, service provider or third-sector operator responsible for providing the services. For immigrants who are a jobseekers, the integration plan replaces the employment plan, and it specifies the person’s job search obligation, among other things. 

Where necessary, the municipality can prepare a family’s integration plan on a multi-sectoral basis in cooperation with the wellbeing services county and other authorities (e.g. the municipality’s early childhood education and care and basic education). In an integration plan for a family, special attention is paid to promoting the wellbeing, health and inclusion of children, young people and the family as a whole, and the need for multi-sectoral support and training related to the integration of the parents. 

The assessment of service needs related to integration and skills (referred to as an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration in the legislation) and drawing up integration plans is a matter of exercising public authority. According to the Local Government Act (410/2015), a person exercising public authority must be in a public-service employment relationship with the municipality. The municipality must have an office-holder liable for acts in office to perform these tasks. The municipality cannot outsource these tasks. 

Instead, the municipality and the employment authority can choose whether to perform the following tasks themselves or outsource them to, for example, an education provider, an organisation or other service provider:

• expert assessment conducted as part of the assessment of service needs related to integration and skills (referred to as an assessment of service needs related to skills and integration in the legislation), for example, to assess language proficiency,
• integration training, and
• multilingual civic orientation.

Read more: 
Letter to municipalities and wellbeing services counties on guidance and counselling on promoting integration and public accountability issues (in Finnish)

An integration customer refers to an immigrant who has an integration plan or multi-sectoral integration plan currently in effect. 

As a result of the comprehensive reform, an integration customer will have the following legal obligations:

• participating in preparing and reviewing their integration plan or multi-sectoral integration plan
• implementing the plan prepared together with the immigrant
• seek access to, and regularly participate in, the services specified in the plan
• report to the municipality on how they have implemented the plan
• notifying the municipality of any significant changes to their service needs or life circumstances, or other changes that may affect the achievement of the goals specified in the plan and participation in services

Integration customers who are registered as jobseekers are also required to report to the municipality on the implementation of the plan. The information to be reported to the municipality will be specified later in a government decree. 

Following the comprehensive reform, integration plans will be updated by municipalities more frequently than before. The municipality will review the integration plan if there are changes to the service needs or life circumstances of the integration customer or if the customer requests it. In any case, the integration plan must be reviewed at six-month intervals at a minimum.

If the customer does not participate in the services, their unemployment benefits or social assistance will be affected. Under the legislation, a person’s right to unemployment benefits can be restricted or their basic social assistance can be reduced if they do not participate in the preparation of an integration plan or if they fail to follow the plan, for example. The effect of neglecting the obligations on the right to receive unemployment benefits is governed by the Unemployment Security Act, and the effect on social assistance is governed by the Act on Social Assistance.

More information:
Unemployment Security Act (in Finnish)
Social Assistance Act

Integration training for integration customers who are registered as jobseekers is primarily implemented as labour market training. Labour market training is governed by the Act on the Organisation of Employment Services. The responsibility for the organisation of employment services will be transferred to municipalities at the beginning of 2025. The responsibility for organising the services does not determine how the services need to be produced. The entity responsible for the organisation of the services decides on how the services are produced; for example, whether labour market training is produced by the municipality itself or purchased as an outsourced service. 

Integration training can also be implemented in the form of self-motivated studies. The contents and goals of integration training are established in the national core curriculum for integration training. Integration training can also be implemented in the form of literacy training in liberal adult education institutions and basic education for adults.

More information: 
National core curriculum for integration training

Final examinations on Finnish or Swedish language proficiency must be organised as part of integration training. 

The Finnish National Agency for Education will prepare national final examinations on Finnish and Swedish language proficiency and issue an order on the implementation of the examinations. The introduction of a final examination means that the assessment of language proficiency in the final stages of integration training will be based on nationally consistent examination materials and evaluation criteria. The examinations will be organised by the parties that implement integration training. 

More information on the implementation methods of the examinations will be available in 2024 when progress is made with the development of the final examinations at the Finnish National Agency for Education. 

More information: 
Project: final examinations on language proficiency for integration training (in Finnish)

Pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003), the authorities have a general statutory obligation to provide guidance and counselling. This statutory obligation is supplemented by special acts. Each authority provides guidance and counselling on matters that fall within their competence. If a matter does not fall within the authority’s competence, it must strive to guide the customer to the competent authority; for example, an authority’s service location or channel.

Responsibilities concerning guidance and counselling:

• Municipality: the municipality’s own basic services and services promoting integration
• Employment authority: employment services
• Wellbeing services county: social and healthcare services and preventive and supplementary social assistance
• The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela): benefits in different life circumstances
• Finnish Immigration Service: residence permits, including residence permits on the grounds of family ties, for example

In the future, municipalities will be required to provide low-threshold guidance and counselling services to all immigrants regardless of their duration of stay or the reason for entering Finland. The municipality is responsible for ensuring that the local availability of operating locations or services for accessing guidance and counselling corresponds to the local needs. Guidance and counselling can be implemented by the municipality or a service provider selected by the municipality. 

Where necessary, the municipality must provide the immigrant with information on Finnish society, the service system and the system of education, working life and the immigrant’s rights and obligations in Finland, and guide the immigrant to services. Municipal integration services can also explain the activities of the other authorities at a general level; for example, the system of benefits provided by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) or the Finnish Immigration Service’s role in matters related to residence permits. However, guidance and counselling that is not within the scope of general counselling is the responsibility of the competent authority. 

Low-threshold guidance and counselling strengthen awareness of how Finnish society functions and promote access to services and activities that promote integration.

More information:
The Administrative Procedure Act (in Finnish)
Letter on general guidance and liability for acts in office (in Finnish, 6.6.2023)

The municipality or the employment authority will organise multilingual civic orientation for integration customers. Where possible, this civic orientation will be provided in the customers’ native language or a language they are otherwise proficient in. The civic orientation will provide the immigrant with information and the opportunity to participate in discussions on Finnish society and its functioning, housing, living in Finland and the individual’s rights and obligations, for example. The contents and implementation of the multilingual civic orientation will be laid out in more detail by a government decree.

The multilingual civic orientation and the provision of other information and guidance in the immigrant’s native language or on a multilingual basis will support the civic knowledge of immigrants and speed up access to the labour market and inclusion in society.

Further development efforts will be made with regard to the multilingual civic orientation before the reforms take effect, as this is a new service that the municipality or employment authority will be required to provide. An assessment of different methods of implementation and organisation has been carried out before the reforms take effect. The KEHA Centre has also hired a development specialist to coordinate and support the development and organisation of civic orientation. The Finnish National Agency for Education and the Finnish Refugee Council will develop Finnish-language learning materials for the civic orientation. The material will be available for use nationally following its publication. Information on the materials and implementation models will also be provided on the kotoutuminen.fi website. 

More information:
Report on Options for Implementing Multilingual Civic Orientation (in Finnish)
Anu Kumpulainen, Development Specialist ([email protected]) 
yhteiskuntaorientaatio.fi (in Finnish)

If an immigrant does not attend an integration services appointment organised by the municipality or the employment authorities and does not reschedule or cancel the appointment in advance and the unused appointment has resulted in interpreting costs, the municipality or employment authorities may charge the client a fee. 

Whether in the context of a remote service or an in-person appointment, the municipality or employment authorities may charge a fee for unused interpreting services if the client has reserved the appointment, or the appointment was reserved on their behalf, to any of the following services:

• guidance and advice
• drafting a standard or multi-sectoral assessment of skills and service needs related to integration
• drafting or reviewing a standard, multi-sectoral or family integration plan.

The fee to be charged is a maximum of EUR 56.70. The fee is equal to the fee for unused appointments in the healthcare and social welfare services. The municipality or employment authority may charge a fee only once for one unused and not cancelled appointment.

The municipality or employment authorities may send an invoice for an unused and not cancelled service without first hearing the client. The invoice must indicate the final date on which the client may provide an account of the non-use and non-cancellation of the service. The invoice must also indicate where the customer must submit the account. The customer may also contact the municipality or the employment authorities on their own accord and provide an account on why they did not use or cancel the service.

The fee may be charged only if 

• charging the fee is not unreasonable
• the municipality or the employment authorities have notified the customer of the possibility of charging a fee
• the municipality or the employment authorities have issued instructions on how to cancel an appointment in advance
• there are no legitimate grounds for the non-use and non-cancellation of the appointment. 

Unreasonableness is always assessed case by case and factors such as age, prolonged difficult life situation, disability, memory disorder, neuropsychiatric disorders or mental health problems must be taken into consideration in the assessment. Acceptable reasons for missing and not cancelling appointments may include a sudden illness or an accident.
The municipality or the employment authorities must inform the customer at the time of making an appointment that failure to attend or cancel the appointment without an acceptable reason may result in a fee and give instructions on how to cancel the appointment in advance. It is important to make sure that the immigrant has understood the possibility of being charged a fee. 

The municipality or the employment authority provide these instructions mainly in writing and, if necessary, send reminders concerning the reserved appointment. The Development and Administration Centre for Centres for Economic Development (KEHA Centre) is currently preparing a template containing information on the penalty fee and cancellation policy, which is translated into most languages used in integration services in Finland. Groups such as illiterate persons, persons with visual and hearing impairments and immigrants belonging to other special groups must also be taken into consideration when informing customers of the possibility of being charged a fee. 

The municipality will receive information from Kela’s benefit information system Kelmu on persons receiving social assistance so that immigrants outside the workforce can be reached for an assessment of service needs related to integration and skills. The municipality also has the right to obtain information from Kela’s benefit information system Kelmu on persons receiving child home care allowance to facilitate their access to services. 

Municipalities and wellbeing services counties that have the right to access the LAKO-AUTO functionality in the UMA system will be able to view information on persons residing in the municipality or region who are within the scope of the compensation. The data can be used to check the automated payments of the imputed reimbursements. Automatic payments do not cover victims of human trafficking or persons whose personal identity code or municipality of residence are not included in the UMA case management system or the Population Information System at the time of the establishment of the listing of the person or for whom a disclosure prohibition or a non-disclosure for personal safety reasons has been applied.

The employment authority will receive information on unemployed jobseekers when they register as jobseekers with employment services.

Koto-digi is the new customer information system for the promotion of integration. The purpose of information system services is to support the customer work of municipalities in the context of integration, improve the exchange of information between the actors involved with integration, and produce data for knowledge management in integration at the municipal, regional and national levels. The national information system services for integration are being developed in the KEHA Centre’s Koto-digi project. 

The use of Koto-digi system services is specified in the new Integration Act. The system can be deployed in municipalities starting from 1 January 2025. Municipalities will be obligated to use the system on 1 January 2027 following a transition period. The KEHA Centre is responsible for the development and maintenance of the information system. Using the system will be free of charge to municipalities.

More information: 
Koto-digi system

The funding of municipalities consists of various sources, including tax revenue, central government transfers to local government, service fees and operating income. The funding of wellbeing services counties consists primarily of central government funding and, to a small extent, customer and usage fees.

Municipalities and wellbeing services counties are also entitled to central government compensation for the organisation of services promoting integration in accordance with the Integration Act. For municipalities, the compensation is intended for guidance and counselling and other activities that support integration. For wellbeing services counties, the compensation is intended for the organisation of social and healthcare services that promote integration. Compensation under the Integration Act is not intended to cover all of the costs of services used by immigrants. Basic services and benefits for immigrants are paid from the same sources of financing as the basic services and benefits for other people residing in Finland.

Pursuant to the Integration Act, municipalities and wellbeing services counties are provided with imputed reimbursement for persons with refugee backgrounds for a period of time as specified in the legislation. The costs associated with the new tasks of municipalities will also be covered under the the system of central government transfers to local government for basic municipal services. The imputed reimbursements and central government transfers to local government are universal funding, which means that they are not linked to the organisation of specific services. The legislation also specifies certain forms of compensation that can be applied for in accordance with the actual costs.

Services for immigrants who are jobseekers are funded as part of public employment services. The funding of employment services for which the organising responsibility is transferred to municipalities will be incorporated into the central government transfers to local government for basic municipal services. 

The comprehensive reform of the Integration Act will simplify the funding system for integration. Starting from 1 January 2025, the costs arising from interpreting and organising the early-stage assessment will be allocated as part of the imputed reimbursement to reduce the administrative burden. The amount and allocation of the imputed reimbursement between the municipality and the wellbeing services county will be specified by a government decree.

The funding of the new tasks of municipalities will be covered by imputed reimbursements and central government transfer to local government for municipal basic services.

The reimbursement period will be shortened from three years to two years. The imputed reimbursement is paid for persons referred to in section 2, subsections 3 and 4 of the Integration Act, such as beneficiaries of international protection and their family members. The payment period for the imputed reimbursement paid for quota refugees will be shortened from four years to three years.

For municipalities that are not part of the Åland region, from 1 January 2025 onwards, the payment of compensation and reimbursements will be conditional on the municipality having drawn up an integration programme. For municipalities that are part of the Åland region, the payment of compensation and reimbursements will be conditional on the municipality having drawn up a municipal integration programme in accordance with the provincial legislation on the promotion of integration (2012:74).

More detailed guidance on compensation under the Integration Act will be provided in separate guidelines. The guidelines will be updated to correspond to the legislation that will enter into force on 1 January 2025. 

From 1 January 2025 onwards, interpreting costs will be incorporated in the imputed reimbursement. This means that municipalities and wellbeing services counties are no longer entitled to a separate compensation for interpreting costs in accordance with actual expenses. 

The imputed reimbursement is a sum from which municipalities and wellbeing services counties can allocate funds towards different activities such as interpreting services. The imputed reimbursement is non-earmarked funding, meaning that the compensation is paid for certain persons according to the Immigration Act.  The amount and allocation of the imputed reimbursement between the municipality and the wellbeing services county will be specified by a government decree.

Central government will compensate any interpreting services costs that have been incurred by 31 December 2024 as imputed reimbursement according to actual expenses under the Integration Act, in force until 31 December 2024. A municipality or wellbeing services county must submit the application for the reimbursement within two years of the end of the calendar year in which the activities in question took place.

The KEHA Centre will be responsible for the payment of compensation under the Integration Act to municipalities and wellbeing services counties. As a rule, imputed reimbursements are paid automatically to the municipality and the wellbeing services county.

Compensation for the costs of preparing for reception, social assistance and special costs will require the submission of a separate application to the KEHA Centre. The number of people calculated using the UMA case management system in connection with imputed reimbursement also applies to other compensation. Applications for compensation must be submitted within two years of the end of the calendar year in which the activities in question took place. 

Municipalities and wellbeing services counties can check the monthly imputed reimbursement amounts from the Municipal compensation/Wellbeing services counties view in the UMA system. User credentials for the UMA system are required for accessing the view. Applications for user credentials or changes to access rights can be submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service’s user support at atk(at)migri.fi. The Finnish Immigration Service’s user support is also the point of contact for reporting errors or problems related to the use of the UMA system.

The municipality will be locally responsible for the planning, development and monitoring of the promotion of integration for immigrants and integration customers. Municipalities also develop the promotion of integration in cooperation with other actors. Municipalities will coordinate their planning and development activities concerning the promotion of integration with the planning and development of the services for which the wellbeing services county is responsible. 

The municipality will document their objectives, actions, responsible parties, cooperation and monitoring pertaining to the promotion of integration in a separate action plan or incorporate them, including the relevant performance indicators, in another municipal planning document. This means that, in practice, the municipality can continue to draw up a document that corresponds to the municipal integration programme under the current Integration Act (1386/2010). Another option for carrying out the legally required planning task is to incorporate the promotion of integration into the municipality’s other planning or strategy documents. Irrespective of the municipality’s choice of how to document its plan for the promotion of integration, the municipality must take integration customers and immigrants into account in its strategic plans, such as the municipal strategy. The aim is to mainstream the promotion of integration and incorporate it into the planning and development of the municipality’s various areas of operation.

The municipality will document their objectives, actions, responsible parties, cooperation and monitoring for the following themes in planning the promotion of integration: 

• the employment and education of immigrants
• the wellbeing, health and housing of immigrants 
• the inclusion, non-discrimination and equality of immigrants 
• opportunities for maintaining immigrants’ own language and culture 
• promoting good relations between population groups 

The municipality can also set other objectives for the promotion of integration. In its planning activities, the municipality must take into account the national objectives for integration and employment promotion concerning integration customers, as well as promoting the vitality of the municipality. 

Promoting integration requires multi-sectoral cooperation for which the municipality is responsible. The municipality plans the promotion of integration in cooperation with business sector operators, organisations, associations and communities. The municipality may establish a local level multi-sectoral cooperation group for the purpose of promoting immigration, integration and good relations between population groups. 

In its planning activities, the wellbeing services county will set out its objectives for promoting the wellbeing, health and inclusion of immigrants, as well as measures to support the objectives and the parties responsible. In its planning activities, the wellbeing services county will consider the needs of the immigrants in its operating area and the national objectives concerning the promotion of integration, and ensure that the services of the wellbeing services county are also suitable to immigrants.

The municipality will set local monitoring targets and performance indicators for the promotion of integration. In establishing the performance indicators, the municipality must take into account the national objectives for promoting integration and employment. The municipality will report to the ELY Centre on the achievement of its integration promotion targets and the implementation of measures at two-year intervals at a minimum. The report must also include information on equal access to services, the adequacy of funding and the effectiveness of the services.

The employment authority will record information concerning employment services and customer relationships in the national database for employment services (TE-digi). The KEHA Centre will create a reporting system for use by municipalities that will facilitate the monitoring of approximately 250 performance indicators. For integration customers who are not part of the workforce, the municipality will enter information in the Koto-digi database maintained by the KEHA Centre from the beginning of 2027 at the latest. The KEHA Centre will produce monitoring reports based on the information entered in the databases. 

The implementation of the comprehensive reform of the Integration Act will be supported by guidelines aimed at the employment authorities and municipalities as part of the TE24 and KOTO24 reforms. The change support office of the Association of Finnish Municipalities will support municipalities in the preparation and implementation of the reforms.

ELY Centres will support the municipalities in their respective regions with the reforms. In autumn 2023, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and ELY Centres organised a KOTO24 tour of regions that consisted of 15 regional events as well as a Swedish-language event and an English-language event. 

Materials will be collected on the kotoutuminen.fi website to support the implementation of the reforms. Events will be listed in the event calendar.

More information:
Association of Finnish Municipalities pages on the TE2024 reform of employment and economic development services (in Finnish)
Handbook on the implementation of the TE2024 reform of employment and economic development services (in Finnish)
Kotoutuminen.fi events calendar

Up-to-date information on the reform is available on the KOTO24 pages at kotoutuminen.fi. Otherwise, the contents of the kotoutuminen.fi website correspond to the legislation currently in force. The website will be updated to correspond to the new Integration Act at the turn of the year when the new legislation enters into force. Information on potential deviations or outdated content will be provided separately.