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Mid-week Mugging: Timmins and District Multicultural Centre

For the excellent service they provide, Timmins and District Multicultural Centre gets mugged

This week’s Mid-Week Mugging goes to Timmins and District Multicultural Centre and the work they do helping newcomers settle in the Timmins area.

The services are provided by Tom Baby, the executive director and staff Chantal Boudreau, Brittany Pentland and intern Nadia Piccotti.

Aside from our First Nations in Mushkegowuk and Wabun family, Timmins and district has been settled by immigrants ever since the first European settlers in the 17th Century.

The trickle, at first, through the 18th and 19th Century, turned into a tidal wave, after gold was discovered in 1909 leading to the creation of Timmins, South Porcupine, Matheson, Kirkland Lake and other communities.

The area has been a destination for immigrants from Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Australia settling in Canada.

In the early days, most new arrivals were on their own, or dependent on friends and family, to help the transition to their new life in Canada.

Since 2011 the Timmins and District Multicultural Centre has been an active presence to welcome new comers and help them in their transition to becoming a part of the community.

“The number one challenge we are facing right now is providing for teaching of English as a second language services,” said Tom Baby, of TDMC.

“A few years ago, there was a drop in funding for English as a second language programs, yet newcomers in many cases still need to develop their English skills,” Baby added. “We are trying to meet this need by encouraging people to step up and volunteer to help a newcomer learn English-language skills.”

Newcomers may feel comfortable dealing with an agency like TDMC as they also provide other settlement services – acting as a sort of one-stop centre.

Another area where the TDMC helps is by hosting or organizing activities that make the newcomers feel welcome such as open houses and helping to organize the local cricket team.

The TDMC Facebook page contains photos of the cricket team practicing and also a poster of the Northern Ontario Cricket League.

The Timmins & District Multicultural Centre opened in May 2011 at 12 Elm St. N., second floor, above the Timmins Economic Development Corporation offices.

It outgrew that space, and moved to its present location in the Pine Plaza, 119 Pine St. S., Suite 10 in June of 2014. A very well-attended official opening was held July 11. It is co-located with the Timmins Local Immigration Partnership.

Municipalities served from the Timmins office include Cobalt, Temiskaming Shores, Earlton, Englehart, Matachewan, Kirkland Lake, Black River-Matheson, Timmins, Iroquois Falls, Cochrane, Hearst and Kapuskasing.

Efforts are now under way to serve the James Bay coast and Chapleau.

The opening of a settlement services agency for immigrants was the top priority in a report completed in the fall of 2010 for the Timmins Economic Development Corporation and Timmins Local Immigration Partnership.

The establishment of TDMC started after a series of focus groups held at Cedar Meadows Resort in October, 2010.

The Timmins Local Immigration Partnership was originally operated by the Timmins Economic Development Corporation, which turned it over to the Timmins & District Multicultural Centre April 1, 2014.

Funding for both TDMC and TLIP is from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Funding flows through the North Bay & District Multicultural Centre.

Practical assistance is provided to newcomers for the challenges of everyday life. Services include needs assessment and referral, consumer and community information, assistance completing government forms and assistance in the following areas:

  • Health issues, such as obtaining a Health Card and child immunization
     
  • Education, such as school registration issues
     
  • Housing
    Immigration and citizenship applications and classes
     
  • Consumer information
     
  • Job preparation skills
     
  • Medical services
     
  • Canadian law
     
  • Interpreter and translation services (fees apply for translation)

The Timmins office will also match newcomers with a Canadian citizen to serve as a professional or community mentor in the critical first few months in the area.

Volunteers are recruited and trained and matched with newcomers, based on gender, family size, similar interests, age and profession.

A volunteer must be at least 17 years of age and have an interest in helping a newcomer adjust to Canada.

There are no fees involved for receiving assistance from the TDMC.

For all the services above call 705-269-8622 or visit

Timmins and District Multicultural Centre Facebook Page

If you would like to nominate a Timmins and area organization for a Mid-Week Mugging, in recognition of their contribution to the community please send your request to [email protected].


Frank Giorno

About the Author: Frank Giorno

Frank Giorno worked as a city hall reporter for the Brandon Sun; freelanced for the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. He is the past editor of www.mininglifeonline.com and the newsletter of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers.
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