The Newcomer Tours began in 2009 as a joint project between the City of Brampton Clerk’s Office, Recreation Division, Brampton Transit, Brampton Library and community partners such as the LDS Toronto Temple and the Mandarin Restaurant. The response to the tours has been tremendous – every tour has had a waiting list. Both fun and educational, the tours are held twice a year in August and December. The tours provide information to new immigrants about programs and services. Dates for registration are announced on www. brampton.ca....

The ninth largest city in Canada, Brampton celebrates its diverse population that represents people from more than 175 distinct ethnic backgrounds who speak more than 70 different languages, including Punjabi, Urdu, Polish, Spanish, Tamil, Arabic and Tagalog.  Offering more than 6,000 acres of parkland, Brampton takes pride in being known as the Flower City of Canada. It has been designated since 2007 as an International Safe Community by the World Health Organization. Brampton has a successful, well-diversified economy and is home to more than 8,000 businesses.  The City continues to retain a triple A credit rating by Standard & Poor’s, reflecting its...

Now the fourth largest city in North AmericaThe City of Toronto’s latest Economic Dashboard report – presented at a recent meeting of the Economic Development Committee – says that Toronto has moved ahead of Chicago in population and is now the fourth largest city in North America.“These population figures are another sign confirming Toronto's steady growth,” said Mayor Rob Ford. “Toronto is a desirable location for people to live and work. We are attracting people from across North America and other parts of the world.”Statistics Canada recently released its July 1, 2012 population estimates for sub-provincial areas. The City of Toronto’s total population is now...

A graduation ceremony held recently by the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada (CPAC), celebrated the successful completion of the second cycle of the training courses by the participants of CPAC-Gateway for Internationally-Educated Nurses Program.The program aims to help internationally-educated nurses (IEN) obtain registration and find employment in Ontario.Over a hundred participants are getting help from this career bridging program launched by CPAC in October 2011 with funding from the government of Ontario and the federal government.The 40-plus hours of classroom training courses – Introduction to Nursing Practice in Ontario and Workplace Culture and Communication Training...

With $2.9 billion worth of capital projects already underway and another $6.2 billion forecast over the next five years, the province of British Columbia could be entering a period of prosperity it hasn’t seen in decades.New projects in transportation, construction and natural resources are expected to create more than one million jobs over the next 10 years.However, BC faces the challenge of a looming shortage of skilled tradespeople as veteran workers prepare for retirement. Current trends suggest the province will face a shortage of at least 160,000 skilled workers by 2015.So will BC be able to keep up with demand?Ardalan Fard, general manager at Archway Construction, thinks so. He...