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PRESENTATION REGARDING THE SIMCOE COUNTY LOCAL IMMIGRATION PARTNERSHIP: COMMUNITY SETTLEMENT STRATEGY
Ms. Sandra Lee of the County of Simcoe, Ms. Alison Pickard of the United Way Simcoe County and Mr. Christopher Vanderkruys of the Barrie Public Library provided a presentation concerning the Simcoe Local Immigration Partnership: Community Settlement Strategy.
Ms. Pickard highlighted the importance of a settlement strategy, described the composition of the Immigration Partnership Council and the approach to the development of the settlement strategy. She provided statistics related to:
· Changing demographics in Simcoe County;
· Non Official Mother Tongue Distribution in Simcoe County;
· Immigration patterns and demographics in Simcoe County, including percentages of direct landings (immigrants first point of settlement being Simcoe County);
· Growth of immigration in the City of Barrie and settlement and language services provided;
· 2031 population projections;
· Greater Toronto Area Immigration (2006 census figures).
Mr. Pickard outlined the purpose of the settlement strategy and the four themes of readiness, opportunity, celebrate and inspire.
Mr. Vanderkruys described the Barrie Public Library's collection and availability of books, DVDs, etc in multiple languages. He described the rationale associated with the languages chosen for the collection.
Ms. Pickard highlighted what the strategy means to the City of Barrie and requested that the City of Barrie incorporate ideas from the Strategy into its strategic and operational plans.
In closing, Ms. Lee indicated that a Newcomer Resource Guide will be published later this month and that a portal has been launched to support to Strategy (www.immigration.simcoe.ca).
Members of Council asked a number of questions related to the presentation and received responses from representatives.