Provincial Government Announces Funding for Welcoming Communities Initiative

The Honourable Al Hawkins, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour, today announced more than $567,000 to support the Welcoming Communities – WelcomeNL Initiative in partnership with Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL).

The funding announced today will enable MNL to implement the Welcoming Communities Initiative throughout the province, beginning in Labrador City, Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Corner Brook in 2018-19 and in Grand Falls-Windsor and Gander in 2019-20. The funding will support initiatives at the community level to promote diversity and multiculturalism, and establish programs and services to welcome and support newcomers in their new communities.

These efforts build on the inaugural WelcomeNL Toolkit, launched today at the MNL Central Regional meeting in Grand Falls-Windsor. The toolkit was developed by MNL and is a dynamic online resource for municipalities seeking to better understand their role in the promotion of immigrant attraction and retention and the benefits of immigration. The toolkit and the newly established WelcomeNL site can be viewed at welcomenl.ca 

Fostering welcoming communities is an important means to promote the integration and retention of newcomers to the province and encourages individuals and organizations to work together to provide services and supports to help newcomers feel at home. By promoting diversity and multiculturalism, these communities aim to attract and retain new residents, encouraging social, cultural, and economic growth.

The Welcoming Communities Initiative is a key priority in The Way Forward on Immigration in Newfoundland and Labrador, the province’s collaborative, partnership-driven immigration action plan and roadmap to increasing immigration to the province to 1,700 newcomers annually by 2022. The Immigration Action Plan includes 39 initiatives. Twenty-five of these were initiated or implemented by the end of the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Quotes

“Immigration is key to the province’s social, cultural and economic growth. Partnering with municipalities in the creation and promotion of inclusive and welcoming communities supports our commitments to grow newcomer attraction and retention and to promote communities where people can belong. I am very pleased that Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador shares our government’s enthusiasm and has embraced this initiative.”
Honourable Al Hawkins
Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour

“Establishing successful welcoming communities takes the commitment of both individuals and teams, and Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador is proud to be a part of that team. Along with the brand new WelcomeNL website and toolkit launched today, MNL has committed significant resources over the next two years. We will coordinate regional pilots that will model the Welcoming Communities approach, support local leaders in their efforts to attract and retain immigrants, and extend the reach of current provincial investments in settlement and integration services outside the St. John’s Urban Region.”
President Tony Keats
Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador

Learn more
The Way Forward on Immigration in Newfoundland and Labrador – www.aesl.gov.nl.ca/publications/pdf/ImmigrationPlan.pdf 

Immigrating to Newfoundland and Labrador – gov.nl.ca/immigration/

Welcome NL Toolkit – welcomenl.ca 

Follow us on Twitter: @GovNL  and @AESL_GovNL 

Media contacts
Ryan Crocker
Advanced Education, Skills and Labour
709-729-1795, 725-9595
RyanCrocker@gov.nl.ca

Gail Woodfine
Communications and Public Relations
Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador
709-753-6822, 725-1440,
gwoodfine@municipalnl.ca