Toronto, September 23, 2010 — A new website will provide information on essential community services in 11 different languages, Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today.
The ‘In my language’ website was developed by the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), which represents more than 200 settlement agencies in Ontario. The new website, funded by the Government of Canada for $1.4 million, will enable OCASI to provide an electronic library of translated content specially created to help newcomers adapt to life in Ontario.
“The ‘In my language’ website is an excellent resource for newcomers to Ontario,” said Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism. “Newcomers now have a website where they can get the information they need in the language of their choice.”
“The Government of Canada is committed to helping immigrants succeed,” said MP Paul Calandra. “This multilingual website will give newcomers to Ontario a head start on accessing information on housing, health care, legal advice, community services, and language training across the province.”
“Helping newcomers get settled is the key to their success,” said MP Bob Dechert. “Settlement information needs to be accessible, and this initiative is a significant step in fulfilling that aim.”
Newcomers and other potential users, such as community organizations, schoolboards, police services, municipal governments and hospitals, will have access to multilingual information on housing, healthcare, employment, schooling and other important topics.
The website will have content in English, French, Chinese, Punjabi, Urdu, Spanish, Tagalog, Arabic, Gujarati, Tamil and Russian.
Since the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA) was signed in 2005, the Government of Canada has more than tripled its annual spending on settlement services for newcomers in Ontario. For 2010-11, the Government of Canada is investing $428 million in Ontario for settlement services for newcomers, such as language training, job search workshops and placing settlement workers in schools.
To access the website, visit: www.inmylanguage.org
For further information (media only), please contact:
Alykhan Velshi
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
