Local counties stand together on immigration
The Regional County Municipalities (MRCS) of Coaticook, the Val-saintfrancois-memphremagog, and Des Sources have joined forces with Sherbrooke’s Service d'aide aux Neo-canadiens (SANC) immigration agency in order to be more welcoming to new arrivals to Canada. Putting an emphasis on the province-wide labour shortage and an aging workforce in the Eastern Townships, representatives of the four MRCS announced a plan on Thursday morning to invest a collective $310,000 in improving local expertise on attracting and retaining new immigrant populations.
“This is all to ensure the prosperity of our local businesses,” Jacques Madore, Prefect of the Coaticook MRC, the area where this new idea was born. “This program will allow us to move
ahead with new expertise at the forefront, resulting in a strengthening and diversification of our economic vitality.”
Pierre Therrien, Deputy Prefect for the Des Sources MRC, explained that the four MRCS have identified the need to improve immigration because of the fact that each region currently faces a workforce shortage that is expected to increase significantly over the next eight years as older workers retire.
“Our population is aging and we lack the workforce necessary to fill the new jobs available in the region,” Therrien said. “We have all put a great deal of work into seeing the region prosper, but now we need to support these new businesses by helping to ensure a strong workforce.”
In concrete terms the project, entitled the “programme mobilization-diversité” will see two development agents hired to help the regions develop an action plan for immigration. That plan will focus on efforts to mobilize, share best practices, prepare the region for new arrivals, sensitize local populations, and attract newcomers.
Mercedes Orellana, Executive Director of SANC, said that the organization is happy to help with the new initiative, as it fits perfectly into the kind of integration work the organization has already been doing in Sherbrooke for decades.
“This mobilization project from the four MRCS joins a tradition here at the Service d'aide aux Neo-canadiens of building bridges between local partners in the interests of welcoming and supporting immigrants in their socio-economic integration into the Eastern Townships.” Orellana said.
The programme mobilization-diversité was funded with assistance from the provincial Ministry of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion.