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The Ontario government has announced $300,000 in additional funding for several Peel-area settlement agencies and is urging Ottawa to step up its financial support for community organizations trying to help new immigrants.
Brampton West MPP Vic Dhillon made the announcement yesterday during a news conference at COSTI Immigrant Services in Brampton. He said Queen's Park is providing the new funding to five local organizations offering settlement services for newcomers to Canada.
Brampton Multicultural Community Centre will receive $50,000, Catholic Crosscultural Services gets $67,000, COSTI Immigrant Services is being allocated $63,000, Dixie-Bloor Neighbourhood Centre gets $70,000 and Newcomer Centre of Peel is promised $50,000. The funds are being allocated under Ontario’s Newcomer Settlement Program.
The money is expected to enhance services that include one-on-one settlement counselling, group orientation sessions, social support, job search assistance, referrals to other agencies and help addressing mental health needs. More than 5,000 newcomers are projected to benefit.
Mario Calla, executive director at COSTI Immigrant Services, said the money is supporting “essential” services for the kind of clients that contact the agency. The organization is helping new immigrants navigate a complicated bureaucratic system and get over barriers on their way to finding work, understanding cultural differences, tapping into various resources and making a home for their family.
& T) s6 ?" k6 u4 t3 y: ]3 }5 RThe government has identified Peel as a priority community for new investment in settlement services, Dhillon said. The region is one of the country’s fastest-growing communities. He pointed out that growth is primarily due to the large influx of immigrants.
The region is the destination for an estimated 21 per cent of all immigrants to Ontario. About 2,000 immigrants come to Peel each month, according to Dhillon.
$ Y; Q  T% @1 V4 r9 ~+ _With an aging workforce, immigration will be vital to Ontario and Canada’s economic future, he said.
3 _& g' f) V# b& X3 l( d) H/ g. U“We’re counting on newcomers to come here and work hard,” he remarked. “In return, we have to make sure our province works hard for newcomers.”
+ T) Q3 a3 z9 J  d  BBrampton-Springdale MPP Linda Jeffrey called on Ottawa to direct more federal government funding to the nation’s immigration hub, instead of cutting dollars to settlement services in Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area.
7 x5 M5 b  U9 I+ IMillions of dollars in funding reductions to settlement services were announced by the Conservative government last December. Much of the spending cutbacks — an estimated $43 million — is targeted in Ontario.
According to Jeffrey, another $6 million is slated to be cut next year.