The Center for Newcomers (CFN) has been a crucial tool for immigrants and refugees of all nationalities in Calgary since 1988. CFN is a non-profit organization that views immigrant integration as a two-way process of experience, influence, and impact between newcomers and the communities that welcome them.
Integral To Incorporation
The Centre for Newcomers Society of Calgary was initially incorporated as a society, registered as a charity in 1988 and rebranded to its current name in 2005. It was formed specifically to respond to the need for services for refugee claimants, especially those fleeing the civil wars in Central America and arriving overland in Calgary.
The Centre for Newcomers is a key not-for-profit resource center for Calgary’s immigrants and refugees of all nationalities to receive settlement and integration services and information. Since its founding, the Center has provided training programs and collaborative support services to promote full integration, cultural diversity, community participation, and citizenship for more than 10,000 newcomers each year.
The Center for Newcomers envisions a diverse community where people of all backgrounds can discover and create chances to realize their aspirations and actively participate as citizens.
Their mission is to support newcomers and the receiving community in building a diverse, connected community by providing services and initiatives that foster a welcoming environment in Calgary.
The Center for Newcomers provides local, provincial, and national leadership in immigrant settlement and integration, playing a key role in the collaborative associations.
Service Oriented Organization
Centre for Newcomers’ services and programs for immigrants include:
- English Language Program – The center improves your ability to speak, understand, read and write in English by offering English Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada for adults. To enroll for the class, participants must first visit Calgary Language Assessment and Referral Centre to meet with a specialist who will refer them to a suitable course.
- Settlement Services – The center keeps immigrants informed and connected as they settle and become independent to make their first years in Canada a positive experience.
- Career Development and Job Search Services – It helps immigrants learn about resumes, interviews, cover letters, networking, and job search strategies while looking for work and planning a career in Canada. The Job Search Centre provides clients with free computer use, fax, and resume printing.
- EthniCity Catering Work Experience – This program introduces participants to the food service industry through paid work experience and providing classroom and kitchen training.
- Volunteer Development – Newcomers can volunteer to gain Canadian work experience, build networks and give back to the community.
- Multicultural Peer Mentorship – It is a 4-month program that matches Mentors working as professionals in their industry in Canada with Mentees who are professionals striving to find employment in their fields.
- Youth Programming – The two-tiered youth support program for immigrant youth enables them to develop a sense of identity and belonging, serving vulnerable youth with settlement into Canada and averting at-risk youth from criminal or gang involvement.
As a value-centered organization, the services at the Center for Newcomers are influenced by and embody the values of equality and respect, collaboration, communication, professionalism, caring diversity, and inclusion.
The Centre for Newcomers believes that by welcoming newcomers and assisting them in settling and integrating, as well as by working collaboratively and in partnership with a workplace culture based on respect, cooperation, and trust, they can make a positive difference in the lives of all Calgary residents and the community.
Centre for Newcomers is a space where diversity is their strength. To learn more about their services and programs, visit the website at https://www.centrefornewcomers.ca/.
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