Chilliwack Community Services to setup immigrant assistance programs

Saturday December 17, 2011

BC Gov't News

Welcoming Immigrants

Chilliwack Community Services to setup assistance programs with grant money

Released by Thomas Marshall, BC Government Caucus

ewcomers to Chilliwack will receive enhanced immigrant settlement services to help them settle into their new lives and gain employment through $188,665 in funding for the Chilliwack Community Services Society.

"Moving to a new place can be very intimidating. These services help make such changes as smooth as possible. This funding will allow Chilliwack Community Services to continue to help new immigrants find a job and a place to live," said Chilliwack-Hope MLA Barry Penner.

This funding is part of a $20.3 million annual budget for the Settlement and Integration Program under WelcomeBC.

"This funding is money well spent, and will go towards supporting vital services which help new immigrants integrate and settle into our community," said Chilliwack MLA John Les.

Why this matters

Funding goes towards orientation classes and workshops on a wide variety of topics such as: how to find a job, find a place to live, navigate the local transit system and learn banking basics.
B.C. continues to be one of Canada's most popular destinations for new immigrants, welcoming more than 40,000 newcomers each year.
Services through WelcomeBC are provided to more than 100,000 newcomers in 66 communities across the province, by more than 100 service providers.

Quick Facts

WelcomeBC's award-winning website helps approximately 600,000 clients each year from B.C. and around the world, offers information accessible in several languages and makes it easier for immigrants to access vital information.
By 2019, it's expected that there will be over a million job openings in the province, and skilled immigrants will play a vital role in filling many of those positions.

Learn More
Watch the newcomers' videos here.

Users can mix and match the language the host speaks in with the subtitle, for example viewers can watch the videos in Punjabi with English subtitles.
Once the host's language is selected, all the information on the screen will convert automatically.
Clients can download the video scripts in any of the eleven languages to keep the instructions/lessons close at hand.
The technical sophistication of these web videos/mobile offering is a first for any jurisdiction in Canada.