Immigration Officials: April Rietdyk and Services Manager

immigration officials: Chatham-Kent had supplied information, brochures and videos to immigration officials in Quebec, who asked the migrants if they would be interested in settling down in southwestern Ontario, according to Toronto Star. Chatham-Kent has been designated as a welcoming community, said April Rietdyk, the municipality's community and human services manager, and we stand by that designation. The 20 newcomers, who originally hail from Africa and the Middle East, were bussed in from Montreal on Sept. 14 after completing vigorous security and medical screenings and being cleared by both the RCMP and Canada border officials. The pilot project, capped at five families for the time being, has been in the works since the summer after an influx of irregular migrants overwhelmed Toronto's shelter system, prompting the city to open student dormitories at Centennial and Humber colleges to accommodate the overflow. However, the number of asylum seekers has since decreased and the triage plan involving the use of the NAV Convention Centre in Cornwall is not currently necessary, an immigration department spokesperson told the Star. Article Continued Below At the time, the federal government also announced the creation of a triage centre in Cornwall, Ont., where border-crossers would be transferred after arriving in Lacolle, Que., and then redirected to smaller communities outside Greater Toronto. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.