City council is supporting a local bid to be one of 15 communities involved in the Rural Community Immigration Pilot.
But before unanimous approval was given there was plenty of discussion on access to healthcare and housing.
Councillor Mark King wants support and answers from senior levels of government.
“You need to step up to the table and figure out how we provide housing, how we provide doctors because quite frankly the situation is in a crisis mode,” he says. “It’s incredibly frustrating to watch these things go on when there’s no answers to it.”
Many councillors said immigration is one of the only ways the north is going to grow, the previous pilot has been economically successful, and all communities are facing challenges with doctor shortages and access to housing.
Councillor Justine Mallah, chair of community services, says the new project comes on the heels of the completed Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot.
“The program was incredibly successful and has resulted in about 300 people receiving their permanent residency status with many more in the cue,” she says. “The program also saw participation from 288 employers who successfully filled all 638 spaces allotted under the program.”
Councillor Lana Mitchell says there have been successes but also highlighted another issue involving a backlog of paperwork at the federal level.
She says a mother of three moved here and was working as a Personal Support Worker when her work visa expired.
“This woman did exactly what she said she was going to do when coming over here, total success story, got the job, paying her market rent and raising three kids and now she had to quit her job and isn’t allowed to work because the federal paperwork didn’t come in on time.”
Mitchell says it’s critical they advocate up to other levels of government, so they become true partners.
If the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce is successful in its application to become a host community in the new program, the city’s support would include an investment of nearly $63,000 spread over five years.
