New Federal-Provincial Initiative Underway to Attract New Immigrants to Communities Across British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia — The federal and provincial governments are partnering to help B.C. communities attract immigrants. Eight areas of the province are participating in the new Regional Immigration Initiative: Revelstoke, Powell River, Greater Vernon, Prince George, Okanagan, Nanaimo, Abbotsford, and the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District.
“British Columbia is already one of the top three destinations for immigrants coming to Canada,” said t he Honourable Stephen Owen, Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of State (Sport). “This initiative will help communities throughout the province market their opportunities for employment, investment and quality of life to a global audience.”
“Immigrants bring significant social and economic benefits to every community,” said the Honourable Patrick Wong, B.C. Minister of State for Immigration and Multicultural Services. “We want to ensure that all communities throughout B.C. have an opportunity to share in the significant benefits of immigration.”
"Immigration can play an important role in ensuring Canada's cities and rural communities remain a vital source of economic strength and stability," said the Honourable Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. "The initiative announced today supports the need for strong partnerships and increased involvement from all players to secure the health of Canada's regional economies while at the same time helping to improve the labour market outcomes of immigrants."
Each participating community will develop an immigration strategy to increase awareness of immigration opportunities and to develop resources that enable them to attract business entrepreneurs, skilled workers, international students and investment dollars. These strategies will be made available to other communities to share lessons learned and increase community involvement and capacity.
The federal and provincial governments have together provided $200,000 in funding for this initiative through the Western Economic Partnership Agreement. This is a $50 million joint federal-provincial program supporting economic development in British Columbia. The federal portion of this funding was provided for in the March 2004 budget.
The selection of communities was based on responses to a request for proposals posted on the BC Bid web site. In addition to the funding noted above, participating communities are contributing in-kind resources.
