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THUNDER BAY — City officials want to hear from recent immigrants to Thunder Bay to help inform a growth plan they’re putting together.
On Wednesday, the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association will host a “newcomer focus group” designed to get input from recent immigrants about their experiences settling into the city and what it’s been like to live here.
“Part of the workings of this action plan is to connect with different organizations in the city, and the multicultural association was identified as one of the organizations that primarily works with newcomers that they wanted to connect with,” said Tej Shah, the local immigration partnership coordinator at the TBMA.
“What came out was the need to actually hear from newcomers from the ground.”
Shah said he’s already got the required number of people for this week's talk. Participants will be asked to give feedback — positive and negative — on their experiences and how they feel the city should grow and further develop over the next five to 10 years.
“There are some things that are clearly working for us,” Shah said, referring to the diverse, multinational food scene, a variety of multicultural events and festivals, and amenities, such as the local cricket pitch, that were developed with other cultures in mind.
“We are also looking to hear from, like, what other changes that they would like the City of Thunder Bay to … implement, maybe more a location for cultural spaces, maybe a little bit of improvement in terms of the transit services that newcomers face.”
“What would make them stay, what would make them choose Thunder Bay, what would make them, kind of live [here] over [the] long term, so we're hoping to hear some feedback on that.”
Shah said he’s pleased with the city’s efforts.
“I think it's an excellent idea hearing from newcomers themselves. Hearing from this group directly, I think that would definitely help with better policy-making.”
