Speaking Notes - The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, for the announcement of the allocation of new funding for settlement programs

Vancouver, B.C., November 10, 2006

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Thank you, Tung Chan, and good morning everyone. It’s great to be here at SUCCESS. Thank you so much for being such wonderful hosts. I can’t think of a more fitting place for this event, because it’s all about success.

Canada welcomes tens of thousands of newcomers every year — a great many of whom settle right here in Vancouver and elsewhere in British Columbia.

I’m talking about newcomers like Yvonne (Mei Yen) Lu. Yvonne was a receptionist in Taiwan, with a high-school education when she arrived, and she was fearful because her English was minimal. However, the family was met by a reception service managed by SUCCESS, who counseled her on how to apply for language training and other support workshops available to new immigrants. Yvonne is enthusiastic about the classes she is taking at SUCCESS, and wants to go on to university to become a kindergarten teacher.

I’m sure Premier Campbell would agree that this province and this country would not be the wonderfully diverse, prosperous, successful places that they are without the contributions of those who have come here from all over the world in search of a better life.

But building a better life in a strange, new country is not always easy. We long ago learned that it’s not enough to say to newcomers, “Welcome to Canada — good luck.”

In fact, during Yvonne’s first year in Canada, her biggest challenge was learning new customs — including how to go about buying groceries and how to enroll her children in school. Through SUCCESS, she was able to find the necessary support. The family is happy with their new life in Canada and the children love their new school.

That is why we work with our partners across Canada to support agencies like this one. SUCCESS and other service providers from coast to coast play a crucial part in helping newcomers succeed in Canada — and when newcomers succeed, Canada succeeds.

It is a fact that in recent years, success for newcomers has been harder to come by. In the 1980s, after a year in Canada, skilled-worker immigrants were earning one-quarter more than their Canadian-born counterparts. In 2003, their earnings were almost one-third less than their Canadian-born counterparts after one year.

The Canadian government knew that had to change, and in our first Budget, we took immediate steps to increase the opportunity for newcomers to succeed. We stepped up and did what has been needed:

We cut the $975 Permanent Resident fee in half.

We’ve committed $18 million towards working with our partners in the provinces and territories to streamline the process of recognizing foreign credentials.

And we have committed a total of $307 million in new settlement funding over the next two years.

As more new Canadians arrive, they must be able to get the orientation and language training that they need to quickly get up on their feet. The necessary funding was not there, and we are now delivering on it. We are getting things done for new Canadians. This $307 million is new money that will go to our partners here in British Columbia, and across Canada, to support the people who make such a difference in the lives of newcomers.

Here in British Columbia, for example, settlement funding to be managed by our partners in Premier Campbell’s government will increase from $40 million last year, to more than $63 million this year and almost $75.5 million next year. That is an increase of more than 86 percent over the next two years.

I know Premier Campbell and his government are deeply committed to giving newcomers a better opportunity to get ahead, and I share that enthusiasm.

In Canada, immigration is a joint responsibility — it’s a partnership that involves the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, and individual communities.

The funding I am announcing today is an investment in that partnership. It is an investment in newcomers, it is an investment in Canada. Above all, it is an investment in success.

Thank you.