Minister Mike Colle and Vic Dhillon, MPP Brampton West - Mississauga announced in Brampton; the government of Ontario is increasing funding to settlement and integration services to ensure newcomers get the help they need to succeed, Citizenship and immigration.

Nearly one fifth of Canada's total population was born elsewhere in the world. Most of them immigrated to Canada because of the promise of living freely in a democratic, peaceful and multicultural society. Most immigrants to Canada have low levels of political participation. A new program being run by The Maytree Foundation aims to change that by encouraging civic engagement among immigrants.

The McGuinty government is launching "All About Ontario," a new citizenship curriculum designed to ease newcomers' transition by teaching them more about life in this province, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle announced. All About Ontario' is claimed to be a part of the McGuinty government's comprehensive plan to break down barriers for newcomers.

Diane Finley, The Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration announced $12.5 million in funding for the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program, to be distributed among seven partner agencies including school boards, colleges, libraries and Immigrant Centers in Hamilton, Ontario. The funds will be used by the agencies to expand their English-language training services for new immigrants in Hamilton, Ontario.

Both rural and urban communities in the province of Saskatchewan saw significant increases in immigration in the past year. The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) attracted over one thousand nominations in 2006, the largest number to date, which added to the 26 per cent rise in the annual number of immigrants landing in the province. With 2,658 landed immigrants in 2006, the government of Saskatchewan is continuing to implement its "bold strategy to attract 5,000 newcomers annually by 2008."

While recent Canadian census told of the importance of immigration for Canadian growth, cities and provinces across Canada are devising strategies to attract newcomers to their region. The mayors of Atlantic Canada are confident that the quality of life in their cities will be the key to attracting immigrants to work, live and stay in their cities and towns.

Canada already has a very generous immigration system that sees somewhere between 225,000 and 250,000 new permanent residents each year. The government of the day, whether Liberal or Conservative, often boasts of how well the system has worked in achieving their targeted goal. Recent Statistics Canada results suggest that within the next few decades 100% of Canadian growth in population will be the result of immigration only.

For a group of people living in refugee camps in Southern Bangladesh, the late arrival of the Canadian spring will mean a true fresh start in the spirit of the season. Canada is taking the initiative of opening its doors to a first group of Rohingya refugees living in UN camps in the southern tip of Bangladesh.

Diane Finley, The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Ed Stelmach, The Premier of Alberta and Iris Evans, Alberta Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry, signed a new Agreement for Canada-Alberta Cooperation on Immigration on May 11, 2007. The new agreement means Alberta will be able to nominate more immigrants possessing skills needed in the province, for quicker processing by the federal government.

The story of Canada's history is one of a constant flow of immigrants arriving to help build Canada from the ground up. To document this important part of Canadian history and share it with future generations, the Scotiabank Research Centre is now being opened at Pier 21, home of Canada's Immigration Museum.