One-stop help for newcomers in Saskatoon

The Newcomer Information Centre, which was launched on Friday, will offer one-stop service for newcomers, right from how to use a bus to where to get a health card from.

The Newcomer Information Centre, which was launched on Friday, will offer one-stop service for newcomers, right from how to use a bus to where to get a health card from.

The new agency has pledged to cut through the red tape and to put an end to non-stop running around of immigrants who come to Saskatoon. The centre will provide newcomers some useful information regarding a number of everyday needs which immigrants face.

Edith Connacher, who runs an agency called International Women of Saskatoon, is one of the backbones of the project.

Connacher said that for a newcomer, it is generally not easy to know where to get social insurance number or a health card. Where should they go when their child is sick? How should they get their children enrolled in school? These are the basic hurdles that the centre will look to eradicate, Connacher said.

Connacher said that the new centre is different from existing agencies in the city because newcomers will get all their queries answered here. They can get information on little things like where to get a driver’s license from, Connacher added.

She said that the fact that newcomers will get all answers at the new centre will make sure that they don’t have to run from one agency to another for different problems. She said that their main motive was to stop the running around on new immigrants which causes unnecessary harassment to them.

The new agency got financial assistance from the federal government and the provincial government as well as the Saskatoon Health Region. It is situated next to the Open Door Society of Saskatoon, on First Avenue.