Toronto, September 5, 2008 - The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today announced funding for the Rexdale Women's Centre to deliver settlement and integration services to an estimated 1, ,100 newcomers in the community.
The funding of more than $5.2 million is going towards providing settlement services, including referrals to community resources, advice and guidance, and employment-related services. The settlement services deli vered by Rexdale Women's Centre are mainly targeted towards helping newcomer women and their families to become self-sufficient members of Canadian society. The Centre will be using $286,873 of this funding to provide language training for newcom er youth.
"Our Government believes in immigration and is committed to helping newcomers and their families succeed," said Minister Finley. "We are also committed to promoting the full participation of women in the economic, soc ial and democratic life of the country. Settlement services give newcomers the help they need to learn one of our official languages, find a job and settle into the community. Their successful integration is good for Rexdale and good for Canada."
"For the last 20 years, the Thistletown/Rexdale communities of northern Etobicoke have benefited from the newcomers settling into the area and creating a community that is enriched by many cultures," said Fatima Filippi, Executive Director of the Rexdale Women's Centre. "The Rexdale Women's Centre is pleased to be working with the Government of Canada to assist immigrants to build a vibrant and healthy community. Through settlement and language instruction prog rammes funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, our Centre is able to assist newcomer families to adapt more quickly and to utilize their skills and expertise in building a welcoming and caring community."
Settlement services are an e ssential part of the federal government's immigration program. Through COIA, the Government of Canada has increased settlement funding for Ontario by a total of $920 million over fiv e years. Under COIA, CIC works with the province and immigrant-serving agencies to make a real difference in the lives of immig rants. In total, since 2006, the Government of Canada has begun investing an additional $1.4 billion over five years in settlement funding in provinces and territories outside Quebec. This funding is benefiting all newcomers, including women 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 us e their skills in Canada. There are now 320 Service Canada centres across the country offering in-person foreign credential referral services to newcomers. Through the Working i n Canada tool, newcomers may also access an online service that provides detailed labour-market information, and reference to appropriate provincial regulatory bodies.
The 2008 Budget also introduced changes to modernize the immigration syst em, 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 enconomy. In this way, newcomers will have more opportunities to f ind work sooner in the fields for which they have been trained and to benefit more from life in Canada for themselves and their families.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada funds a number of programs that help newcomers settle, adapt and integr ate into Canadian society. These programs are delivered in partnership with provinces, territories and service-providing organizations.
For more information on CIC programs, please vi sit 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
