Ottawa, April 19, 2013 — New immigrants can now access two new videos at cic.gc.ca to help them navigate their way before and during their first weeks in Canada, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today.
“By providing newcomers with practical advice and information before and as soon as they arrive, we can help them integrate more quickly into the Canadian economy and their new local community,” said Minister Kenney. “These videos complement the new Welcome to Canada guide and provide newcomers with a practical checklist of things to do as they prepare to come to Canada and as they settle.”
The Before Arriving in Canada video recommends that newcomers bring all their personal identification documents with them and have all their official documents translated into English or French before coming to Canada, among many other recommendations. The Your First Two Weeks in Canada videoexplains to newcomers the importance of obtaining a Social Insurance Number, contacting a local settlement organization and finding employment.
The 10-minute videos are part of a series of tools designed by the Government of Canada to help immigrants get the best possible start in their new country. These tools include the new Welcome to Canada guide and the Web-based tool Living in Canada, which were unveiled recently.
The Welcome to Canada guide contains hundreds of mailing addresses, telephone numbers and web links. This reference guide is intended to help newcomers settle in Canada. The Living in Canada tool is an online application that provides users with a personalized settlement plan and identifies the closest service providers.
Once newcomers are settled in Canada, the publication Discover Canada, serves as an official study guide to prepare for the Canadian citizenship test. Discover Canada provides details on the history of Canada.
“The Government is committed to ensuring newcomers to Canada integrate and succeed in the Canadian economy and society as soon as possible,” said Minister Kenney. “To help newcomers integrate, the Government has tripled settlement funding since 2005-2006. The Government remains committed to ensuring the distribution of settlement funding is fair and that immigrants receive the same level of service regardless of where they choose to settle.”
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For further information (media only), please contact:
Alexis Pavlich
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
Building a stronger Canada: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) strengthens Canada’s economic, social and cultural prosperity, helping ensure Canadian safety and security while managing one of the largest and most generous immigration programs in the world.
