Settling in
New immigration office opening in downtown Summerside
SUMMERSIDE – P.E.I.’s Office of Immigration is moving some resources to Summerside.
A new office, located at 268 Water St., employing five people is expected to open before the new year. Two of those positions will be moving from Charlottetown while the other three are new jobs.
The news was welcomed by a broad cross-section of politicians, business leaders and people working in economic development during an announcement Friday afternoon at Credit Union Place.
Economic Growth Minister Matthew MacKay, who is also the minister responsible for representing Summerside in the provincial cabinet, said the opening of the new office will both benefit immigrants who have decided to settle in Prince County and make the area more attractive for more newcomers.
“We want to help the immigrants on this side of the Island,” said MacKay, “but (the new office) helps with everything – the retention side of it, the compliance side of it – and it opens the doors (to Prince County) a little more,” said MacKay.
Mayor Basil Stewart welcomed the news, saying it will mean five new jobs in the downtown that will work to make Summerside a better place for everyone.
The new positions will include a bilingual employer outreach and marketing officer, a program officer to work with local employers and newcomers and assess applicants, two program integrity officers to process files and deter fraud and one senior program integrity officer to manage the office and co-ordinate with federal immigration programs.
Belinda Woods, a settlement worker with the P.E.I. Association of Newcomers to Canada, is hoping to work closely with this new office and its staff.
Her job is to help newcomers to Canada settle in Summerside and Prince County, and she feels Friday’s announcement will help her do that.
“This is really exciting,” said Woods.
New immigrants usually arrive here without a vehicle, and yet almost all the services they need in terms of their dealings with PNP are in Charlottetown.
So having this office in Summerside will really make their lives, and their integration into the community, easier, said Woods.
Someone who could be affected by this announcement is Victor Chu.
Chu and his family are hoping to build a new life in Summerside. They settled in the city just two months ago, immigrating from Hong Kong.
They got here through the Provincial Nominee Program’s entrepreneur stream, as Chu is starting a business involving online tutoring.
He is currently dealing with an immigration officer in Charlottetown. But with this new office he’s hoping his file can be transferred, which will be much more convenient.
“It will save the trip, and I can have more frequent liaison with the officer in case I have any questions or any support that I need,” said Chu.