Federation Of Canadian Municipalities: Toronto Mayor

Immigrant Services Dept: Municipalities serve on the front line when it comes to integrating the more than 500,000 permanent residents, temporary workers and foreign students who come to this country each year. These newcomers often rely on city hall for basics like housing, recreation, libraries, child care and public transit. But cash-strapped cities find it increasingly difficult to cope, according to The Star. The need for federal funding to cover such services was underlined by a Federation of Canadian Municipalities report released Wednesday. It found that new immigrants are twice as likely to commute using public transit compared to people born in Canada. Two-thirds of newcomers are renters, rather than homeowners. And almost half of them spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent. Most non-immigrants tend to do much better and if Ottawa is serious about helping immigrants thrive it will channel more money to cities, especially for affordable housing and public transit. That would ultimately benefit not just new Canadians but also communities and the national economy. Everyone loses when immigrants fail. A case in point is Toronto Mayor Rob Ford s administration, currently considering cuts to a long list of services heavily used by immigrants and other disadvantaged people. That s inexcusable in Canada s largest and most multi-cultural city. Ford s claims of bureaucratic gravy notwithstanding, other governments refusal to pay a fair share of municipal costs including immigrant services is the main factor behind Toronto s chronic budget mess. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.