A mix up recently occurred concerning funding from the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Project to help attract immigrant workers to Portage la Prairie. Mayor Irvine Ferris explains what happened.

"One of the conditions was communities had to be a certain size, they had to be 75 kilometres or further from the major metropolitan centres," he says, "So we were too close to Winnipeg. So the article came out, and the next day, I was informed that actually Portage would be included, because the 75 kilometer measurement, they were now going to measure to the centre of Portage, as opposed to the outskirts."

Ferris outlines the Portage la Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation is currently applying on the city's behalf. 

"We've done a letter of support for it," says Ferris."This (the letter) will be forwarded on to the federal government. The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Project really looks at how we can increase immigration to impact on economic development, so this would be something that should help Portage la Prairie and the entire region."

To read more about what the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Project is, click here!