Backgrounder - Funding for immigrant-serving organizations in Regina

Although Regina is known as a major centre for Canadian agriculture, its economy has also diversified with new developments in telecommunications and financial services. To help newcomers settle into this community, the Government of Canada is committing funding of $1,922,871 over the next year to four different immigrant-serving organizations to provide services under the LINC, ISAP and Host programs.

• Regina Open Door Society:  $1,420,575
• Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology:  $357,376
• Regina Immigrant Women’s Centre:  $24,920
• Assemblée communautaire fransaskoise:  $120,000

Settlement services are an essential part of the federal government’s immigration program. For 2008–09, Saskatchewan will be receiving more than $5.5 million in basic settlement funding, an increase of more than $1.5 million over the previous year. In 2006, the Government of Canada began investing an additional $1.4 billion over five years in settlement funding to provinces and territories outside of Quebec, which receives annual funding through a separate agreement.

The 2008 budget also introduced changes to modernize the immigration system and shorten the time it takes to bring newcomers and their families to Canada. Under this system, instructions would be issued to immigration officers related to the processing of applications, including in relation to the jobs available in Canada, so that people with those skills and experience can be brought to Canada more quickly. With these changes, newcomers could have more opportunities to find work sooner, to provide a better life for themselves and their families and to benefit more from life in Canada.