Last month, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced several Local Immigration Partnership initiatives for the cities and surrounding areas of Guelph, Niagara and York, in Ontario. Since then, CIC has announced that the cities and surrounding regions of Peterborough and Kitchener-Waterloo will also be receiving government funding for Local Immigration Partnerships of their own.

The funding will help establish a local partnership council, to develop models, strategies and projects that will assist new immigrants with their settlement in these Ontario cities.

“Immigrants make up a large part of the population of the Region of Waterloo and are important to Ontario’s economic and social prosperity. Helping our newcomers succeed locally is a good investment for all Ontarians,” said Member of Provincial Parliament (Kitchener-Centre) John Milloy.

The funding is being provided through the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement, a partnership between the federal and provincial immigration ministries. CIC said that almost $3 million will be allocated to municipalities and service provider organizations across Ontario to establish the partnerships.