Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - April 2010
The City of Calgary has announced plans to implement its own municipal immigration policy.
While immigration in Canada is handled mostly at the federal level, more and more local communities are doing what they can to address the needs of a growing immigrant population. The move by Calgary is modeled after other major cities, such as Saskatoon and Edmonton who have come up with initiatives at the municipal level to assist immigrants in the resettlement process.
�We want the city to recognize officially and formally that immigration is their portfolio, that they should be supporting immigration on the municipal level," said Beba Svigir who works with the Immigrant Sector Council of Calgary, an advocacy group that works on behalf of the city�s various resettlement organizations.
By next January, city officials aim to have outlined the policy as well as municipal commitments toward implementing and sustaining the services.
Since Alberta�s recent economic boom, the immigrant population in Calgary has grown to 25 percent of the total population. The city welcomes anywhere from 3,000 to 11,000 immigrants each year.
Source: Calgary Herald
