Moving to a new city is an exciting opportunity and full of challenges. However, many factors, such as distance from family, language barriers, unfamiliar neighbourhoods and lack of knowledge of available services, can contribute to a feeling of isolation and loneliness.
Back in June 2018, the City Council endorsed the Choose London – Innovative, Vibrant and Global: London’s Newcomer Strategy. This community-led strategy was developed through consultation with multiple stakeholders, along with data analysis and literature reviews, and focuses on three strategic priorities: Enhance Awareness, Facilitate Access and Active Engagement.
The Welcome Kiosk is an initiative created in an effort to help make the move to London smoother and remove barriers to accessing services such as education, employment, housing, settlement and healthcare. The City has recently installed two new iPad Welcome Kiosks, which allow users to access, for free, a web portal that provides information on all services and programs available to them, in their own language.
These kiosks are located on the first floor of City Hall and Bostwick Community Centre beside their Service London counters (2nd floor).
For more information on the services and programs available to our city’s newcomers, please visit immigration.london.ca.
Picture: London City Hall by Scott Webb
