WelcomePeterborough.ca

Peterborough is welcoming immigrants to the area with www.welcomepeterborough.ca,  a new website that offers information and links to community resources.

MPP Jeff Leal announced the $158,000 in funding for the Immigrant Services Peterborough Portal, provided through the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. Leal said he hopes the web portal helps to attract more newcomers who will bring their skills, culture and vibrant diversity to the area.

"It's about population growth, diversity and it's about taking advantage of skills that many new Canadians have to offer," Leal said. "Peterborough has always thrown open its doors to newcomers. As a medium-size Canadian city, we have a lot to offer for new Canadians instead of going to the larger jurisdictions in Ontario."

Once on the website, newcomers can surf through many topics, such as immigration success stories, employment, health care, housing, education, transportation, recreation and business. This will assist new residents in accessing Peterborough’s resources and services.

Similar websites have been funded for other Ontario municipalities. Peterborough’s site contains much more data, and many more features than many of these sites. This will allow Peterborough to compete against other municipalities such as Toronto, Niagara, Timmins and Ottawa for skilled newcomers.

Immigration currently accounts for two thirds of Canada's population growth.

"One in 10 people in Peterborough are from outside Canada. This is a great resource for newcomers to Peterborough," she said. "It will put us on the global map to showcase all we have here to overseas people."  -  Carmella Valles, outgoing executive director of the New Canadians' Centre

"Peterborough is a great destination and we all know the face of the city is changing for the better," Leal said. "It's becoming a more diverse and multicultural population." - MPP Jeff Leal