Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley announced funding for Albion Neighborhood Services that is aimed at providing settlement services to the newcomers in Canada.
The announced funding, which is of more than $500,000 will assist the organization to deliver a number of settlement services to the newcomers in the Etobicoke neighborhood of Toronto. The settlement services delivered by the organization are referrals to community resources, advise and guidance to the newcomers, language assistant, all possible general information and most important of all, helping the newcomers in finding job.
Minister Finley said that government of Canada is committed towards helping newcomers succeed at a time when they need maximum support i.e. in beginning a new life in a new community. She also said that with this funding, even newcomers living in Toronto can go to Albion Neighborhood Services and avail the much needed services like learning a new language, finding a job and integrating into the Canadian society. The success of the immigrants makes the community a better place and also strengthens Canada.
Albion Neighborhood Services is also working along with Rexdale Women’s Culture to deliver a special English-language training program for the newcomers. The Rexdale Women’s Centre is also funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).
Executive Director of Albion Neighborhood Services Filomena Ferlisi, said that Albion Neighborhood Services is very excited to work with Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the new partnership with CIC will be an important link to resources for this high-need community. Ferlisi added that with the help of the funding, they have been able to establish a Newcomer Resource Centre that is responding at community issues, needs and priorities on assets building and strengths and opportunities in Toronto.
The government of Canada has increased settlement funding for Ontario by $920 million over a period of five years, through the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA). In total, an additional $1.4 is been invested by the government of Canada since 2006, towards settlement funding in provinces and territories outside Quebec.
The 2008 Budget also introduced changes to modernize the immigration system in order to minimize the time to bring the newcomers and their families to Canada. Under the new system, newcomers will come to Canada with specified skills that will allow them to quickly integrate into the economy. Therefore, newcomers will have more opportunities to find work and get more benefited from their life in Canada.