A national alliance dedicated to providing an evidence base for newcomer settlement & integration and the promotion of welcoming communities in Canada
The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
Some retail space donated to a local organization to help Ukrainian refugees is now open in Halifax. Newcomers can shop for whatever they need to fill their homes – for free. The Ukraine Store opened Tuesday at 7071 Bayers Rd. to limited hours, and in those two days they’ve already helped 11 families find items they need for their new homes.
Immigration backlogs and processing delays have become a top barrier to Canadian employers seeking to attract talent and the situation is impeding economic growth and business investment, a new survey suggests. The report by the Business Council of Canada found 80 per cent of surveyed employers were having trouble finding skilled workers, with labour shortages in every province and territory — with it being most pronounced in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
The populations of smaller communities in Canada have been shrinking because of low birth rates, youth and working professionals moving away and a failure to attract and retain new residents. In an attempt to prevent this decline, many communities are turning to marketing campaigns. For example, Sarnia-Lambton in Ontario seeks to attract new residents by highlighting the community’s affordable housing, accessible health care and strong and diversified economy — which is said to make it an ideal place to live and work.
Deux programmes d’immigration, l’un mis en place pour aider les interprètes afghans qui sont venus en aide aux soldats canadiens et l’autre prévu pour les personnes particulièrement en danger sous le régime des talibans, pourraient ne pas suffire à répondre à la demande, préviennent des députés fédéraux et des organismes communautaires. Le ministère de l’Immigration a confirmé avoir reçu près de 15 000 demandes pour le programme visant les Afghans qui ont aidé le Canada, qui compte 18 000 places.
In April 2021, the Al Taha family was having a difficult time after nearly a decade spent in a refugee camp in Lebanon. Akyla Al Fares Taha, her husband and their five children fled Syria in 2012. In 2020, Al Fares Taha’s husband was killed suddenly. That’s why a flurry of encouraging WhatsApp messages from children halfway around the world had such an impact. Al Fares Taha said watching her sons laugh and exchange dance videos with Canadian children helped carry the family through a traumatic time.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/refugees-syrian-youth-inter-faith-1.6490795
The Immigration Department confirmed that of 18,000 spots in the program for Afghans who helped Canada, it has received almost 15,000 applications as well as referrals for the remaining 3,000 spaces. Aidan Strickland, spokesperson for Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, said the government is “not discontinuing the special immigration measures for Afghan refugees.” But she said the Immigration Department has “received referrals from the Department of National Defence and Global Affairs Canada for the remaining spaces in the special immigration program.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/8943262/afghan-immigration-canada-taliban/