Immigration
Ontarians welcome and settle new immigrants and integrate them into Ontario’s economy.
Ontario welcomes 57 per cent of all immigrants to Canada, but we get only 34 per cent of the federal funding. Newcomers to Ontario deserve the same support from the federal government as they would receive in any other province.
The federal government invests $3,806 in an immigrant who lands in Quebec, but only $819 in one who lands in Ontario.
With populations ageing and skills shortages growing, countries around the globe are in a race to attract the best and brightest the world has to offer. We want to make Ontario the place to be. It’s time to narrow the gap in immigration settlement funding.
Immigrants make up 27 per cent of Ontario’s population.
We invest around $109 million per year on helping immigrants get settled, providing language training and helping them find a job.
We’re investing $9.5 million in 2004-05 to smooth the transition for internationally trained professionals, growing to $12.5 million annually.
In 2004-05, our $4.1 million Newcomer Settlement program funded 79 community agencies to provide services for more than 100,000 newcomers.
By 2017, the number of people whose mother tongue is neither English nor French will be almost one quarter of the population.
Schools in the Greater Toronto Area include students from about 175 countries. Those students speak about 80 different languages.
We invest more than $50 million each year on English-as-a-second language (ESL) classes for adults.
We’ve increased funding for ESL in our schools by $64 million so that ESL can be offered to children over a longer period of time.
More than 3,000 internationally trained people this year are participating in more than 35 different bridge training projects.
The CARE for Nurses bridge training project has more than doubled the success rate for internationally trained nurses writing the licensing exam.
More than 80 per cent of internationally trained pharmacists now pass their qualifying exam on the first try.