The County of Simcoe is looking to bolster its support of ongoing local immigration partnerships.
At Tuesday's committee of the whole meeting, county councillors voted to amend an agreement with Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to support a Local Immigration Partnership (LIP).
Sandra Lee, the county’s manager of community services, said the amendment provides an additional $524,382 in funding for the remaining two years of the five-year agreement and will cover the period April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2025.
“This funding will support annual Week of Welcome activities for the remainder of the agreement, the development/delivery of employer training to support the recruitment and retention of immigrant residents, the development and launch of a new community settlement strategy, and the ongoing community-based planning activities of the Simcoe County LIP,” Lee said in the report.
The federal government has announced plans to launch another national call for proposals in 2024 for funding applications covering April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2029, Lee added.
“The Simcoe County LIP was established in 2011 through a funding agreement with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). Since that time, the County of Simcoe has entered into a succession of agreements and amendments to provide leadership to the implementation of recommendations in the Simcoe County Community Settlement Strategy, 2012,” Lee said in the report.
The current agreement was created following a national call for proposals issued by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada in 2019 for five-year plans and runs from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2025.
“Initially, IRCC issued three years of funding. The subject amendment represents the addition of $524,382 to support the community-based planning activities of the Simcoe County LIP between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2025,” Lee explained.
IRCC amended the agreement with the County of Simcoe to facilitate additional indirect settlement activities, which include Week of Welcome (WOW) to be hosted in Simcoe County communities, and has agreed to allow these events to take place in the next fiscal period, between June 10 and June 16.
The activities will start with a citizenship ceremony on June 10 in the council chambers and an Indigenous ceremony will be held at the Lakehead University campus in Orillia the following morning. Additional local community activities will take place in Barrie, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Collingwood, Innisfil, New Tecumseth, and Orillia from June 12 to June 16.
“The funding will also facilitate delivery of employer training modules to increase labour force integration of newcomers living in Simcoe County," Lee said. "Additional deliverables of the agreement include renewal of the Simcoe County Local Immigration Partnership in 2023, the development and launch of a new community settlement strategy, and ongoing community engagement and outreach."
Currently, the LIP hosts a number of community planning programs, including a settlement sub-council, which is funded by federal and provincial settlement and language training partners, a health-care steering committee, #ITSTARTS community champions, a welcoming and engagement committee to address isolation factors, and an annual Newcomer Recognition Awards.
The Simcoe County LIP also co-hosts a francophone immigration committee with Réseau en Immigration Francophone (RIF) du Centre-Sud-Ouest.
“The Simcoe County LIP maintains www.immigration.simcoe.ca, an online resource providing over 300 pages of information about settling, living, and working in Simcoe County," Lee said. "A section was added in 2023 to provide timely updates to individuals arriving through the Canadian Ukrainian Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET)."
The amended agreement was sent directly to the county clerk and warden for electronic execution on March 9, 2023.
"Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada historically requires an expedient return on agreements and will not cover expenses outlined in agreements without a signed agreement,” added Lee, who noted the amended agreement sustains the spirit of the additional funding allocation provided for the 2022-23 fiscal period and represents an addition of $524,382 over two years.
