New multi-language assessment program to help Windsor’s recent immigrants access services.
Developed by the WE Value Partnership in Windsor, Ontario, the initiative is intended to offer newcomers facing language barriers an easier way to access appropriate services. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada contributed $2 million to the initiative.
WE Value hopes to serve 1,000 newcomers by March 2021. An assessment available in 20 different languages will be administered by assessors at the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario's Windsor Learning Centre.
Speaking to CBC News, Hugo Vega, Regional Manager of Settlement and Integration Services at YMCA of Southwestern Ontario, said the program will benefit the community as well: “This is a service and a program focused on bettering the outcomes of newcomers, the benefit is not just to them. I really believe ... that when a newcomer succeeds, when every individual in a community reaches their full potential, the whole community is better for it.”