welcome centre

Saskatchewan has seen major population increases in recent years thanks to people immigrating here from all over the world.

We here in the southwest have the Newcomer Welcome Centre, based out of Swift Current, which is a great resource for immigrants coming to our region.

"First thing they do when they come here is get their SIN number, health card, child tax benefits, all those registrations they need, we help them with that," said Icasiana de Gala "if they need to look for housing, enroll their kids in school, the basic things you would want to know when you arrive in a new place."

de Gala added it's hard to see if numbers have increased significantly in our region, but she knows they have remained steady the last two years.

"Not every new immigrant comes to the centre, but we do have the numbers of those who do come here, I can say there is still a steady flow from last year up to the first quarter of this year, and it's an exciting number."

de Gala did say the number of young immigrants and those coming over on a student VISA did increase, and most that came over already had work lined up for them, but the Welcome Centre would help them with that if they didn't.

The Welcome Centre in Swift Current has been welcoming immigrants and refugees, and supporting their adjustment in Canada since 2008.