Duane Hicks
Fort Frances and Rainy River are among the 32 communities featured in the new Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal, which was launched in Thunder Bay last Wednesday to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The purpose of the web portal, located at www.immigrationnorthwesternontario.ca, is to highlight the region as a place for immigrants to live, work, learn, and do business, describing Northwestern Ontario as offering “spectacular landscapes, excellent education, housing, and health care, low crime rates, vibrant culture, and four-season outdoor recreation.”
It provides immigrants with reasons as to why they should come here, and information on what they should know before they come and after they arrive.
This includes information on geography and distances, life in Northwestern Ontario, culture and diversity, cities and towns of Northwestern Ontario, weather, and help arriving at and settling in Northwestern Ontario, such as finding a place to live, finding a job, and learning English.
It also features “fast facts” about the region, such as “Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world,” as well as testimonials from individuals and families who immigrated to Northwestern Ontario from all over the world and helpful links to other websites (i.e., Immigration Canada and Ontario Immigration).
The portal, defined as a site that provides a gateway to many resources on the Internet, also includes information about the participating communities (this is found by clicking on the “Communities” button at the top of the home page).
“The town’s location on the edge of Rainy Lake offers the cottage lifestyle in a full service community,” reads a portion of the description for Fort Frances.
“Boating, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and a world-class fishery are available on our doorstep. Residents and visitors enjoy a fully-developed waterfront, marina, beach area, an active arts community, and recreational facilities.
“Fort Frances is proud of its history and optimistic about its future,” reads another section. “Our community is more than a place to live and work. It is the place that you will want to call home, where neighbour still means something and rush hour is something you will never experience.
“You will find time to pause, time to walk to work, time to take your children fishing, time to plant a garden, and time to live a better life,” it notes.
It link also provides Fort Frances-specific information about jobs, health care, education, housing, and recreation, as well as outlines the advantages to doing business here, like the proximity to the U.S. border, low hydro and natural gas rates, telecommunications infrastructure, and access to building incentive grants and federal/provincial capital and grants.
“I think it’s a very good first step for Northwestern Ontario to take everything and aggregate it together, so it gives a potential immigrant at least an idea of what’s available here,” said economic advisor Geoff Gillon of the Rainy River Future Development Corp. here.
“The RRFDC gathered and provided the input for Fort Frances and district while the Town of Rainy River did this task for itself,” he explained.
“I am hoping that we can continue to enhance the whole immigration component of this,” Gillon added.
“We’re looking for business immigration, and we’re hoping to get another round of FedNor funding [for the agricultural co-ordinator program] to keep pursuing that,” Gillon said, referring to an application the RRFDC has made to FedNor to fund the position—most recently held by Jeannette Cawston—for another three-year term.
“But [the web portal] is a very good tool for us to link to everything else,” he reasoned.
“Hopefully, the province will continue to support it, build upon it.”
“I think it’s very good. It’s gives people all over the world access to Northwestern Ontario,” said Fort Frances mayor Roy Avis. “To have us as part of the portal website is great.
“I do believe it brings Northwestern Ontario into the 21st century,” he added, noting it hopefully will get more immigrants to at least consider coming here.
“We are looking for people interested in starting businesses, interested in farming, skilled labourers, professionals, and this gives them a very good idea of the north,” remarked Mayor Avis.
The Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal is the largest municipal immigration portal in Canada, topping 500 pages of content and more than 30 photo galleries.
It has been translated into 11 international languages, in addition to English, by the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association, with more translation work to be undertaken in the future.
The portal project was funded by the Ontario and federal governments through the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement, which supports municipalities in attracting immigrants and aiding them to settle in communities.
A consortium comprised of Procom Consultants Group, in partnership with WaltMar Systems Group and Firedog Communications of Thunder Bay, was contracted to design and develop the Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal.
The City of Thunder Bay’s web application developers completed the technical development.
The project was initiated and led by the Thunder Bay & District Entrepreneur Centre, the City of Thunder Bay Information & Technology Department, and the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association.
“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,” Rebecca Johnson, an advisory committee member for the Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal, said in a press release.
“This project has resulted in the municipalities of Northwestern Ontario collaborating like never before,” she noted.
“It’s a ground-breaking initiative and a privilege to be part of it.”
“This portal is an exciting step for communities in Northwestern Ontario and for newcomers,” Ontario Citizenship and Immigration minister Dr. Eric Hoskins said in the same press release.
“It will attract vital talent and investment to the area so the region can continue to grow and prosper,” he remarked. “It will also allow new Ontarians to use their valuable skills so they can contribute to the local economy.
“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,” stressed Johnson.
“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,” she said.
