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Sarnia, ON – Service providers representing education, health-care, social services, government, employment and various community organizations gathered together in Sarnia recently to talk about immigration and to provide direction to a federally funded Immigration Partnership lead by the County of Lambton.
The Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) is a local research project which aims to assess and identify gaps in services for immigrants and newcomers in Sarnia-Lambton. With the support of a Partnership Council, consisting of members from community organizations and newcomers, the project will develop specific recommendations to help address concerns and barriers the community is facing in attracting and retaining immigrants and newcomers.
"This Community Strategy Meeting with our stakeholders has allowed us to introduce our project to the community and to collect input about local matters relating to immigration," said Stephanie Ferrera, LIP Coordinator. "As a result of this meeting, our stakeholders have told us to focus on areas such as employment, language barriers, and marketing and coordination of existing services."
Immigration is now on many municipalities planning agendas as a result of the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement, which was first signed in 2005. Locally through the LIP initiative, it is anticipated that a number of achievements will be realized in Sarnia-Lambton including:
- a complete inventory of services and supports currently available to immigrants and newcomers in Sarnia-Lambton;
- the identification of gaps in service and barriers that prevent immigrants and newcomers from participating fully in the community;
- the provision of solutions for overcoming these barriers and challenges in services and supports
- the development of a comprehensive and coordinated settlement plan to assist in the social and economic integration of immigrants and newcomers in Sarnia-Lambton
"Many communities in the province are experiencing decreasing populations and with the upcoming departure of the baby boomer generation from the workforce, many communities may experience difficultly filling positions with an educated and skilled workforce," said Ferrera. "Attracting immigrants and newcomers to communities and then retaining them in the community will become more important over time to meet labour needs, bring entrepreneurial talent, and offset demographic decline."
Additional focus groups will be taking place over the next month, along with the distribution of a survey later this spring. The strategy is to be complete by November this year.
Statistics Canada reports that between 2001 and 2006, 1,010 immigrants arrived in Sarnia-Lambton; less than 0.01% of immigrants settling in Ontario make their home in Sarnia-Lambton.
The Government of Canada provides funding to support the LIP initiative through Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
For more information about Lambton County, visit www.lambtononline.ca.
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Contact:
Stephanie Ferrera
LIP Coordinator, Social Planning & Program Support Department
County of Lambton
Telephone: 519 344-2062 x2161
email: stephanie.ferrera@county-lambton.on.ca
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