October 24, 2019 | Rachel Rizzuto
Given a slow population growth, a rising demographic dependency ratio, and the introduction of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, as well as the Francophone Welcoming Communities Initiative, it is important for the City of Greater Sudbury to ask: What assets and resources can we enhance in order to effectively attract and retain newcomers? Specifically, how can the City of Greater Sudbury encourage effective and long-term newcomer economic integration?
To answer these questions, the Greater Sudbury Local Immigration Partnership held a discussion with its Economic Working Group, which was facilitated by Northern Policy Institute (NPI). Through an analysis of the comments made in this session, as well as in key informant interviews, NPI was able to provide strategic actions for the City of Greater Sudbury to take in order to successfully encourage economic integration of newcomers.
Alongside the economic integration barriers for newcomers (e.g. a lack of knowledge regarding Ontario’s legislation for starting a business, language barriers, and not enough diversity training), barriers for employers and service providers were identified that can impact their ability to effectively address these obstacles for newcomers, including: lack of quality data, communication issues, and a lack of attraction efforts.
Based on these barriers, there are several actions that can be taken such as constructing an asset map so that newcomers and employers can identify and access appropriate resources, engaging employers appropriately, improving the pathway for newcomer entrepreneurs, and planning for families too – not just individual newcomers.
Through these recommended actions, the City of Greater Sudbury can strengthen supports and other economic integration pathways for newcomers. Doing so will not only ensure newcomers are appropriately integrated into the labour market but also increase the likelihood they choose to stay and help the City of Greater Sudbury continue to grow.