Settlement groups mount campaign to restore funding - thestar.com

33 Ontario organizations delivering language, employment and integration programs to immigrants will lose all of their funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada by April 1. These organizations currently serve over 10,000 new Canadians. A total of $22 million in cuts is being made to settlement programs within Toronto this year.

“The Conservative funding cuts are an attack on the economic and social success of the Toronto area that depends on our ability to integrate new Canadians,” said Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy.

Read the entire article:
Settlement groups mount campaign to restore funding - thestar.com

Sign the online petition

Learning to skate

If you're a new Canadian and you want to understand a little more about your new country, one thing you can learn is to remain upright on two narrow blades of steel while on ice - that is, you can learn to skate.

Toronto has 50(!) outdoor skating rinks that are open from early December until March (weather permitting, of course). The city coordinates instructional and drop-in programs for Learning to Skate, Hockey Skills, Figure Skating, Leisure Skating, Hockey & Shinny (informal hockey games).

Some of Toronto's skating venues are well known - like Nathan Phillips Square. Others, like the brand new Sam Smith Ice Trail are the sort of inspired public works that other cities only wish they had.

Find all the skating resources the City has to offer and the Parks, Forestry and Recreation web site.

Baby, it's cold outside - so get out and skate!

A New Year's reso-matum

I don't make a lot of New Year's resolutions. Maybe it's because I know myself well enough to know in general, I'm not going to keep them. Something has been on my mind however, about this blog and the now 5-years that I've been writing it. And that is - something has to change. So my resolution for this year is actually more of an ultimatum to myself...let's call it a "reso-matum":

If our application is not resolved by the end of 2011, I will end this blog. If our application is successful, then I will migrate this blog's subject matter to cover issues associated with living and working in Canada, and the quest for citizenship.

Fair enough? Consider it reso-mated.

One more case of an inconsistent CIC

There are seasons here where I feel like a watchdog; barking for attention to the news that doesn't make the headlines, because it only appears to impact one or two people directly. But my readers know that who I'm watching are those who's policies, decisions and behaviours directly impact you and I - because the ones I watch for a responsible for all aspects of immigration and citizenship in Canada.

So here's another minor situation: A woman in Halifax, in Canada on a visitor's permit, has applied to become a Permanent Resident in order to live in Canada with her husband. Normally, the CIC should simply extend her permit each six months until a decision is made on her application. But the woman has now been told by the CIC that "...she may not have time to file another visitor extension prior to Feb. 1." Meaning she'll have to leave the country. And we know from past stories that once you are outside, but with an application in process, the CIC can be reluctant to let you in, their logic being that if you don't get approved, you'll stay illegally.

Let's hope the CIC does the right thing and extends this woman's visitor's permit. Haven't we all had enough of this Ministry's tactics?

Read the story here from the Truro Daily News in Nova Scotia.

Tales of the new Irish immigrants

In this article from the Irish Times, author Lorraine Mallinder writes, "Canada is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for young Irish people looking for work. How are the people who have already made the journey faring..."

Read the entire article here

Free eBooks on Canada

As I mentioned a few months back, I picked up a Kindle last year. I'm sure many of you readers got one for Christmas too. In case you were interested, The Expatriate Mind is available as a blog delivered automatically to your Kindle (so subscribe today!) - but that's not the point of this post.

I wanted to start the New Year off by making you aware of some cool free Canadian books available at Amazon Popular Classics, Archive.org Openlibrary and Project Gutenberg.

Search out these titles and enjoy reading about Canada!

• The Voyages of Samuel De Champlain (Vols 1-3)
• Canada: The Empire of the North
• Famous Firesides of French Canada
• The Red River Colony
• Pioneers of France in The New World
• The Makers of Canada: Bishop Laval
• Anne of Green Gables
• The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion
• Canada Under British Rule