News Release - Government of Canada announces funding to help newcomers settle in Durham Region

Pickering, September 5, 2008 — The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today announced funding to help six organizations in Durham Region deliver settlement services to an estimated 2,400 newcomers in the community.

The funding of almost $6 million will go to the Community Development Council Durham, Northern Lights Canada, the Women’s Multicultural Resource and Counselling Centre of Durham, the Durham Region Unemployed Help Centre, Durham District School Board and the Durham Catholic District School Board. These organizations deliver a number of settlement services for newcomers including: referrals to community resources, advice and guidance, language assessment, language training, general information, and help finding a job.

A portion of this funding will go towards a youth mentorship program which pairs Canadian youth with newcomer youth to help the new arrivals adapt to the Canadian educational system. Newcomers will also be offered workshops on how to prepare resumés and find suitable employment.

“The Government of Canada wants newcomers to succeed,” said Minister Finley. “This funding will give them the support they need to settle into the Durham community. Since 2006, the Government of Canada has begun investing an additional $1.4 billion in settlement funding over five years to help newcomers integrate and succeed in Canadian society.”

“Our area has become more diverse in recent years as more newcomers are calling Durham Region their home,” said Tracey Vaughan, Executive Director of Community Development Council Durham in Ajax. “With the new funding and unwavering support from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, we will be able to provide newcomers with settlement services so they can become active participants in their communities.”

Settlement services are an essential part of the federal government’s immigration program. Through the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), the Government of Canada has increased settlement funding for Ontario by a total of $920 million over five years. Under the COIA, CIC works with the Province of Ontario and immigrant-serving agencies to make a real difference in the lives of immigrants.

The 2008 Budget also introduced changes to modernize the immigration system, to shorten the time it takes to bring newcomers and their families to Canada. Under this system, newcomers will arrive with the skills required to integrate more quickly into the economy. In this way, newcomers will have more opportunities to find work sooner in the fields for which they have been trained and to benefit more from life in Canada for themselves and their families.

Newcomers to Canada can also turn to the Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO), which helps internationally trained individuals find the information they need to get their credentials assessed and recognized more quickly. Established in 2007, the FCRO provides information, path-finding and referral services to help internationally trained individuals use their skills in Canada. There are now 320 Service Canada centres across the country offering in-person foreign credential referral services to newcomers.

CIC funds a number of programs that help newcomers settle, adapt and integrate into Canadian society. These programs are delivered in partnership with provinces, territories and service-providing organizations.

For more information on CIC programs, please visit www.cic.gc.ca.

For further information (media only), please contact:

Tim Vail
Press Secretary
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064

Madona Mokbel
Communications
Ontario Region
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
416-954-7868

Backgrounder

• Settlement funding to help newcomers settle in Durham Region