New Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal Launches In Thunder Bay
by Scott A. Sumner
www.thunderbaybusiness.ca
Some 400 people attended the official launch of the new web portal to tell the world about living and working in 32 communities in Northwestern Ontario. “ We had directives from the ministry for the $1 million budget that we only had until March 30th to finish the project. It has to be up and going by then so we did it in 9 months so we hired a consulting firm which had experience. All the 32 communities involved in the project were visited and it took quite a while to get all of the information together. The steering committee read every single page of the portal, over 600 pages. To me that was very important,” said Rebecca Johnson, councilor City of Thunder Bay. “ It is important for NW Ontario as we never really went out to attract immigrants in the past. Many of the communities didn’t even have a web presence. This says we can go out and promote ourselves. For other communities that have a web presence they can say come to NW Ontario to live and work. We really feel proud of our region.”
“ We have an number of of immigrant that have already come here and started their own businesses. We had started but this promotes it in another way. It is one of those things I got involved in because I feel strongly about immigration. Working on a welcoming committee I see this as another tool to be able to do that. I feel really proud of this web portal. To pull all of NW Ontario together is huge. I have never seen that happen before. It was a huge undertaking. Other communities have immigration have portal but not as involved as our portal. We did
things well together.”
“ I came in 2003 to Thunder Bay from Timmins and in 1998 from China. I came to Canada to accompany my husband, a PHD candidate then at UBC. He now has a job as Lakehead University. I spoke no english when I came here. I really enjoy Thunder Bay, the weather, people and the activities. We like to walk, go ice fishing and my kids like to ski and snow board. My son is in grade 5. He has made friends in school and in the neighbourhood.” Yue Wei from China
Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal Goes Live:
32 communities launch new immigration portal to the world.
Thunder Bay, ON, March 24th, 2010 - Northwestern Ontario’s communities officially rolled out their welcome mats to the world today with the launch of the new Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal at www.immigrationnorthwesternontario.ca.
Mayors, Reeves, Councillors and municipal representatives from thirty-two (32) participating communities were in Thunder Bay to unveil the Portal, which is said to be the largest municipal immigration portal in Canada.
With over 500 pages of content, translation into 11 languages and more than 30 photo galleries, the Portal showcases Northwestern Ontario as an international destination of choice for immigrants. It also provides essential information, resources and referrals to help newcomers settle more easily once they have arrived in the region’s cities and towns.
“Prospective immigrants to Canada and newcomers from around the country or province can now find everything they need to know about living, working, learning and doing business in Northwestern Ontario and its communities at the click of a mouse,” said Rebecca Johnson,
Advisory Committee Member for the Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal. “This project has resulted in the municipalities of Northwestern Ontario collaborating like never before. It’s a
ground-breaking initiative and a privilege to be part of it,” Johnson added.
The Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal was funded by the Ontario and federal governments through the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement that supports municipalities in attracting newcomers and helping them settle in their communities. Ontario continues to have the highest number of immigrant arrivals in Canada and recognizes immigrants as key to labour force and overall economic growth.
“This portal is an exciting step for communities in northwestern Ontario and for newcomers” said Dr. Eric Hoskins, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. “It will attract vital talent and investment to the area so the region can continue to grow and prosper. It will also allow new Ontarians to use their valuable skills so they can contribute to the local economy.”
During today’s go-live event, it was announced that the Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal has been translated into 11 international languages, in addition to English, by the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association and that further translation work will be undertaken in
future phases of the project.
Continued Johnson; “As a region, we need to increase our efforts to attract immigrants and retain newcomers who can bring new investment, skills and culture to our communities. The Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal is a unique example of how we can work together to
promote the rare lifestyle qualities and opportunities that are waiting to be discovered around the region.”
A consortium was contracted to design and develop the Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal comprised of the Procom Consultants Group in partnership with WaltMar Systems Group and Firedog Communications of Thunder Bay. Technical development for the Portal was completed by the City of Thunder Bay’s Web Application Developers.
The project was initiated and led by the Thunder Bay & District Entrepreneur Centre, the City of Thunder Bay Information & Technology department and Thunder Bay Multicultural Association.
Today’s announcement came on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal can be found at: www.immigrationnorthwesternontario.ca
