In its effort to boost regional immigration, the province of Ontario is funding a community website focused on attracting Canadian immigrants to suburban London, Ontario.

An "Immigration Web Portal" is what the city is calling it. And by the end of the year, it will offer immigrants to Ontario's London and Middlesex County districts a "one-stop-shopping experience".

The concept arose from London's desire to provide better integration services to recently-landed Canadian immigrants. The website aims to link newcomers to services available throughout the city, explains John Matsui the project manager for phase one of the initiative. "Once they go through that doorway , they should be able to find anything they need", he says.

Funded by the Province, the website will be modeled after Ontario's ownimmigration portal . However, the London community website will not offer much by way of original content. It will, instead, focus on being a community destination which lists important links to other regional and provincial web services and resources.

The effort will help the city face its labour woes by highlighting the city as a first-class destination for immigrants to Canada. "London wants to attract more skilled workers and people who are making choices as to where they live in the world," said Mary Williamson, the Cross Cultural Learner Centre's executive director. "It's important to make sure people considering Canada as an option are getting accurate information about the community itself and about employment opportunities…"

The pilot project, with a budget of C$200,000 is expected to be up and running by January 2007.