New office to help immigrants opens in Summerside

CBC
·1 min read
Bernadette Reynolds, executive director of Immigrant and Refugees Services Association of P.E.I., says more services are needed for the growing number of newcomers settling on P.E.I. (Tony Davis/CBC - image credit)
Bernadette Reynolds, executive director of Immigrant and Refugees Services Association of P.E.I., says more services are needed for the growing number of newcomers settling on P.E.I. (Tony Davis/CBC - image credit)

Newcomers immigrating to Prince Edward Island who are settling in the Summerside area have a new place to go for support and resources.

The Immigrant and Refugee Services Association of P.E.I. has opened a new office on Greenwood Drive in Summerside. Previously, the organization worked out of a small office at city hall.

Executive director Bernadette Reynolds said her hope is to get more government sponsored refugees to settle in Summerside.

"Prince Edward Island is leading Atlantic Canada with the immigration that's coming into the province," Reynolds said.

"So, we need more services for the expansion of the numbers coming in because immigration is a way of our future. In my mind, we need more workers, we need younger families to help us take care of the people that are getting older."

The office will be open from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. throughout the summer. It will have five full-time staff.

Among the services it will offer is helping young immigrants into university and college.

IRSA also has an office in Charlottetown.

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