Speaking Notes

The Honourable Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, on the occasion of announcing the Canada–Ontario Immigration Agreement

Toronto, Ontario, November 21, 2005

Check against delivery

Thank you and good morning. It’s indeed a pleasure to be here with my provincial colleagues as well as with so many of you who play such a critical role in helping newcomers more quickly adjust to their new lives in this province. This is a great day for all of us and for all Ontarians.

Today the Government of Canada is committing an investment of $920 million in additional settlement and language funds over the next five years to help ensure that the newcomers who settle here can fully contribute to our growth while also making sure Ontario fully benefits from the skills and experiences which they bring with them.

Our agreement with Ontario is about a new way of doing business. It helps launch a new era of even stronger cooperation between our respective governments on immigration.

It opens the door to even closer consultations and the chance to move forward together with an even stronger sense of common purpose and mutual understanding. It means the province that receives the largest number of newcomers to Canada every year will have a new way to match the skills newcomers bring to local needs through tools like the Provincial Nominee Program.

It means all Ontarians will be able to look to the future more confidently and with more assurance that the province will remain prosperous, vibrant and able to effectively leverage the abilities and knowledge of each member of the workforce.

Effective immigration is about close partnerships, and the new Canada–Ontario Immigration Agreement reflects this reality.

Today we have agreed to:

• Strengthen our joint efforts to promote and recruit immigrants to the Province;
• Consider Ontario’s demographic, social and economic objectives in developing Canada’s annual plan;
• Increase the economic and social benefits of immigration based on provincial priorities;
• Help with the development of official language minority communities and further support the needs of the provincial Francophone community;
• Develop partnerships with and foster the participation of other stakeholders in immigration matters; and,
• Strengthen the involvement of municipalities in the decision-making process.

Today’s agreement and related funding arrangements with Ontario will ensure that immigrants in the province continue to receive adequate settlement support and the services which they need to succeed.

Language proficiency, for example, is an important element facilitating the full participation of immigrants to the job market. That’s why my Department is working very hard with partners, stakeholders and other levels of government to develop and deliver innovative programs such as targeted labour market language training projects on a cost-sharing basis.

Our agreement with Ontario will mean more access to more language training for more newcomers.

It will mean the delivery of all settlement and language services is more streamlined, more efficient, and more client-centered. It means that all of us will work hard to ensure immigration to this province remains a success for this and future generations and that our traditional social contract with newcomers is strengthened and reinforced.

In conclusion, I would like to add that it has been a pleasure to work with Minister Colle on this and other initiatives over the past few months, and I look forward to a continued strong relationship with Ontario, as well as the other provinces and territories.

Today’s agreement will make it much easier and much more attractive for people from around the world to stay here, work here, build new lives, contribute to the province’s growth, and ultimately help Ontario build a stronger and more vibrant society and economy. Thank you.