Is Portage a welcoming community?

That was the focus of a presentation at last night's Portage City Council Committee meeting.

Jeff Palmer from Catapult Community Planning released his findings in the Newcomers Readiness Report.

He says the report indicates parts of Portage are welcoming, but there's always room for improvement.

"A lot of the institutions in Portage are welcoming," he says. "And are preparing for newcomers to come to the community. But a lot citizens at large are maybe less aware of the changes happening in Portage, and the opportunities that are going to be coming with some of the new economic development initiatives."

Palmer says immigrants will come to take advantage of economic opportunities that have been announced recently.

"There simply isn't the labour pool in the Portage area that existed right now to fill all those jobs," he says. "And that's the same history that we've seen in other communities across Manitoba and Canada, of course. What people need to know is that newcomers coming to Portage are well educated, and well trained, and well skilled, and we need to welcome them, and find opportunities to put their talents to work."

Mayor Irvine Ferris says part of the work is educating the public about the importance of immigration.

Irvine Ferris

"It doesn't all come from within your existing community," he says. "So certainly having newcomers coming here, working, starting businesses, making investments, helps a community grow. There's a whole bunch of other benefits that come out of that, having a more diverse, welcoming community, of course. And communities that are diverse tend to prosper more than those that aren't."

Here's the Newcomer Readiness Report.