08 September 2008

Canada pledges $6 million to Durham for improvement of immigration services

The Canadian Government announced it will fund $6 million to improve settlement and integration services for the 2,400 new settlers in the Durham Region.

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 will receive distributions from the funding.  These services focus on providing language training, community resources, advice, employment services, and job search workshops for people who move to Canada.

The funding will also focus on improving youth services, which pairs Canadian youth with immigrant youth to help new arrivals easily adapt to the new educational system.  It will also focus on building new youth’s employment opportunities and helping search for work.

"The Government of Canada wants newcomers to succeed," said Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane 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."

In the Ontario region alone, the Government has pledged $920 million to improving the immigration service over the next five years.

---

The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people apply for Canada visa and immigration services.

Article by Jessica Bird, Canadian Visa Bureau.