New policy aims to help migrants access City of Kitchener services
Kitchener is looking to help migrants without status access its city services, without fear of being deported.
Those could include refugees, temporary foreign workers with expired visas, or students with expired student visas.
The policy, called "Access Without Fear," was developed by the Safe and Health Advisory committee and approved unanimously by Kitchener city council on Monday.
In the motion, presented to council, staff said there are an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 non-status migrants living across Canada.
Under the new policy, they could access public services like day care, transit and access to libraries.
Shelley Campagnola, the executive director of the Compass Refugee Centre, said many of the people they help are too afraid to ask for help.
"They are really in desperate kinds of situations," she explained. "Always afraid that someone is going to find out, and what does that mean for them, because they got found out in a negative way in their country of origin. So the trust level, that they are safe here, has now just been elevated by this decision by city council."
A public education campaign will be launched to raise awareness, and staff will work with the Community Coalition on Refugee and Immigrant Concerns (CCORIC) to help bring forward the policy.
"We will reach out to them and offer our support in orientation for the different municipal services and city staff, so that there's clarity for the service providers, so they're not going against any official regulations or laws in serving these populations," said CCORIC chair Mary Lou Roe.
It’s not yet clear when it will be fully developed, but advocates hope other cities in the region will adopt similar policies to help some of the most vulnerable residents in Waterloo Region.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Most of the city is evacuating': Gridlock on Alberta highway after evacuation order in Fort McMurray
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Sask. police seize 1.5M pieces of evidence, lay 60 more charges in child exploitation case
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
'Inappropriate' behaviour shuts down Dublin to New York City portal
Less than a week after two public sculptures featuring a livestream between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City debuted, 'inappropriate behaviour' in real-time interactions between people in the two cities has prompted a temporary shutdown.
Bouchard scores late to lift Oilers over Canucks, tie series
After a final frame that saw the visiting Vancouver Canucks claw their way back and tie the game late, a point shot by Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard with 38 seconds left (until what seemed like certain overtime) iced the 3-2 victory for Edmonton to knot the series.
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker rails against Pride month, working women in commencement speech
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker railed against Pride month, working women, President Biden's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend.
King Charles III unveils his first official portrait since his coronation
King Charles III has unveiled the first portrait of the monarch completed since he assumed the throne, a vivid image that depicts him in the bright red uniform of the Welsh Guards against a background of similar hues.
Full List Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Alberta announces the 4 health agencies that will replace AHS later this year
The province has released more information on its plan to break up Alberta Health Services and replace it with four sector-based health agencies.
Biden administration moving ahead on US$1 billion arms package for Israel, AP sources say
The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than US$1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, two congressional aides said Tuesday.