Governments Invest in Vancouver Multicultural Helping House

• Backgrounder

Vancouver, British Columbia, October 3, 2009 – The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, together with His Worship Gregor Robertson, Mayor of Vancouver, today announced joint funding of more than $1.5 million for the Multicultural Helping House Society.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, our Government is proud to invest in the Multicultural Helping House Society through Canada’s Economic Action Plan,” said Minister Kenney. “The benefits of the expansion are immeasurable to Canadian society, and the new spaces created will result in development of better services to help new immigrants to Canada from diverse backgrounds.”

“Expanding the Multicultural Helping House is another example of how all levels of government can work together with non-profits and the community in support of newcomers to British Columbia,” said Rich Coleman, BC’s Minister of Housing and Social Development. “Our collective efforts will create some much needed space where new citizens can access the programs and the services they need to succeed.”

“The Multicultural Helping House society does great work providing resources and services for recent immigrants to Vancouver,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “They play a key role in making our City a more open, compassionate and accepting home for people who have just moved here. I’m very pleased that the City is able to partner with the Government of Canada and the Provincial Government to fund the expansion of their facility.”

Tomas Avendano, President and CEO of The Multicultural Helping House Society, beams with pride as he says, “I accept this grant with the deepest gratitude to everyone who made this a reality for the Society – the federal government, the Province of British Columbia, and the City of Vancouver. Now, more than ever, the Society pledges to serve as Canada’s channel for delivering quality services to this country’s immigrants.”

Multicultural Helping House Society is a charitable organization that has provided social services since 1996. This expansion will also provide workshops and galleries for arts and culture. The Government of Canada will provide Multicultural Helping House Society with $500,000 from the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund to make important upgrades to the Society’s infrastructure. The Province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver will each provide an identical amount, and the Society will invest the remaining $80,000 for a total of $1,580,000.

This announcement builds on almost $719 million in infrastructure projects announced last week for British Columbia.

The projects are funded under the Province’s three-year, $14 billion capital infrastructure program, which will help build vital public infrastructure in every region of B.C.

The new federal $4-billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund provides funding to construction-ready infrastructure rehabilitation projects that will be build during 2009, 2010 construction seasons.

In 2009-10, the Province’s budget for affordable housing and shelters is approximately $450 million, more than three times as much as in 2001.

For more information on the Economic Action Plan, please visit: www.actionplan.gc.ca.

Contacts:

Alykhan Velshi
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism
613954-1064

Patricia Lusic
Manager, Event Communications
BC Housing
604-314-1458

Chris Day
Press Secretary
Office of Canada’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister
613-991-0700

Infrastructure Canada
613-948-1148

Backgrounder
MULTICULTURAL HELPING HOUSE SOCIETY

The Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver will each provide the Multicultural Helping House Society Vancouver with $500,000 to make important upgrades to the Society’s building. The Society will invest $80,000 toward this project, for a total of $1,580,000.

The Multicultural Helping House Society is a charitable organization that has provided social services since 1996. Extending the area of the facility from 3,025 square feet to 7,657 square feet will accommodate more rooms for much-needed temporary housing, training and counseling rooms, workshops, and galleries for arts and culture.

Among the results expected for this project:

• improving services to benefit new immigrants from diverse ethnic backgrounds;
• helping new immigrants integrate productively in Canadian society; and
• helping newcomers participate in the Canadian labour force.

The federal financing will come from the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund. Federal funding is conditional on the projects meeting all federal program and environmental requirements.

The Government of Canada introduced the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, to quickly inject funds into infrastructure projects that can be completed in the 2009 and 2010 construction seasons.