Local Immigration Partnership Begins Work in St. John’s

Today at a special event in City Hall, the City of St. John’s officially launched its Local Immigration Partnership.

“Our goal is to become a magnet for immigrants,” said Mayor Dennis O’Keefe. “We know that St. John’s has a lot to offer people who may want to live and work here, and we believe that this initiative will help us to better coordinate and focus on improving the immigrant experience.”

The St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership is multi-sectoral and is designed to help improve the integration of immigrants as well as to strengthen the City’s ability to attract immigrants. Funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, this model has had great success across Canada; there are now more than 40 LIPs in four Canadian provinces. This is the second LIP formed in the Atlantic region.

“We recognize that we must better integrate immigrant needs into municipal planning processes,” explained Mayor O’Keefe. “We also know that we must advocate in our communities and amongst the business sector to strengthen local immigration capacity, to help foster labour market access and social inclusion, and to develop sustainable, welcoming communities.”

The St. John’s Local Immigration Partnership is coordinated by two lead organizations: the City of St. John’s and the Association for New Canadians.

“We are very pleased to partner with the City of St. John’s on this important initiative,” said Megan Morris, A/Executive Director. “Promoting inclusion and integration is a core part of our mandate and I am confident that the St. John’s-based Local Immigration Partnership will help contribute to furthering that goal.”

In addition to the two lead agencies, an interim executive committee has been established with representation from the following: Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism (Province of Newfoundland and Labrador); Sharing Our Cultures; St. John’s Board of Trade; Fédération des Francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador; and Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development (Memorial University).

Media Contact:
Susan Bonnell
Manager, Marketing and Communications
City of St. John’s
Phone: 709-576-3906
Cell: 709-690-9285
E-mail: sbonnell@stjohns.ca

Source: http://www.stjohns.ca/