The Government of Finland added new regulations to the the reformed Integration Act that entered into force at the beginning of 2025. 

The Integration Act governs services supporting integration in Finland. The new regulations concern multilingual civic orientation courses, which municipalities are now required to provide. These courses form part of a municipality's integration programme: a service package offered to support newcomers' early integration. In consultation with the newcomer client, services are selected from the package according to individual needs to support integration and participation in working life.

According to a joint inform - based on ad hoc queries collected from 25 countries - by the European Migration Network (EMN) and OECD, implementation of measures for civic orientation is an important part of integration strategy for many European countries. EMN informs are intended to provide policy makers with key findings on a specific topic, based on results from information gathered by the EMN. The main goal of civic orientation in the EMN member countries offering it is to promote the integration of third-country nationals (TCNs).

In civic orientation courses, central topics include the values and norms of Finnish society, the rights and duties of individuals, and information on practical services such as employment, healthcare, housing, education and family benefits. The learning material for civic orientation courses, developed by the Finnish Refugee Council and the Finnish National Agency for Education, covers these themes extensively. The material is designed for a course lasting approximately 70 hours. Civic orientation courses are taught in the native language of the immigrant, or another language in which they are proficient. The courses are dialogical in nature, offering the possibility for participants to ask questions and discuss.

According to the inform, the main goal of civic orientation courses is to equip especially third-country nationals with skills and knowledge to participate in the social, cultural and political life of the society. In most of the countries the inform is reporting on, civic orientation courses were found to be integral to the integration process. In Finland, civic orientation courses will be offered to any immigrant with an integration program. An integration program is provided based on an official’s assessment of the immigrant’s skills and service needs.