North Bay & District Multicultural Centre
Immigrant Settlement Services
Vindra Sahadeo, Community Connections Facilitator, The North Bay & District Multicultural Centre (NBDMC) provided an overview about the centre.
The NBDMC evolved from the work of the North Bay Newcomer Network, spearheaded by the Mayor's Office of Economic Development. It became a reality January 1, 2008 and is a reflection of the changing face of the city. The official opening of the centre was February 22, 2008.
Young People's Press, the founder of the North Bay & District Multicultural Centre, was an active NNN member prior to the launch of the centre and worked with the City of North Bay and other community partners to organize a successful immigration symposium April 8, 2006, attended by more than 80 people. The need to create immigrant support services in the city was strongly identified as a necessary component to the city's immigration strategy.
The symposium led to the hiring of a researcher, with funding provided by FedNor and the City of North Bay. Her research further identified the need for immigrant support services. Staff from Citizenship and Immigration Canada's Toronto office visited North Bay three times to meet with NNN members and encouraged us to apply for funding. We did, and here we are!
In 2011 we opened a second office in Timmins, the Timmins & District Multicultural Centre. Between the two offices, some 400 kilometres apart, we serve newcomers from Parry Sound District in the south to Cochrane District in the north, including the Districts of Nipissing and Timiskaming.
Municipalities that we serve include Parry Sound, Port Loring, Sundridge, South River, Trout Creek, Powassan, Callander, North Bay, Astorville, Corbeil, Bonfield, Rutherglen, Mattawa, West Nipissing, Temagami, Cobalt, Temiskaming Shores, Earlton, Englehart, Matachewan, Kirkland Lake, Black River-Matheson, Timmins, Iroquois Falls, Cochrane, Hearst and Kapuskasing.
Our office provides information and referral services for all aspects of immigrant support and provides a computer, photocopier, telephone and fax service for immigrants wanting to do their own research. We provide interpretation by volunteers and translation on a fee for service basis.
For more about the Centre...read here.