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New home for those who help newcomers

Manitoba Start holds grand opening downtown

By: Larry Kusch

Posted: 09/6/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Premier Greg Selinger helps unveil Manitoba Start's new digs on Portage Avenue Wednesday. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ) Photo Store

Manitoba's new 'one-stop shop' for immigrants was publicly unveiled Wednesday in the heart of Winnipeg's downtown.

The Manitoba Start program, which helps match newcomers with employers, had its grand opening at its new location inside the refurbished Avenue Building on Portage Avenue, between Smith and Garry streets. The redevelopment, which extends to the neighbouring Hample Building, both a century old, cost $1.2 million.

Fatima Soares, the program's executive director, said 200 clients a day have been coming into the downtown office for help since its relocation to Portage Avenue in May.

Immigration is key to Manitoba's economic growth. Last year, Manitoba welcomed close to 16,000 newcomers. The province's goal is to increase that number to 20,000 per year.

"What a beautiful facility!" Premier Greg Selinger gushed at the opening, commenting on its "very modern" and "very fresh" design. "It's going to be very welcoming for all the people who are going to be coming to Manitoba."

The two-year-old Manitoba Start program provides information and referrals, settlement and language services and readies newcomers for employment in a new land.

One of its star alumni is Allan Pamplona, who emigrated from the Philippines to Winnipeg in June 2010. He took just about every course the program offered and first found work as an internal auditor with the Winnipeg School Division.

He is now employed as deputy registrar of compliance with the Manitoba Securities Commission. A trained accountant with a background in internal audit investigation in the Philippines, Pamplona is currently working toward his professional designation as a certified management accountant.

"Manitoba Start gave me the motivation and inspiration not to give up in facing the challenges and adjustments that I've encountered being a new immigrant," he said at Wednesday's opening.

Meanwhile, the program has just launched a phone line for employers looking to fill positions. The number is 204-942-JOBS.

"We will work with employers to identify qualified individuals from our pool of workers who meet their specific job requirements," said Soares.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 6, 2012 B4

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