Tag Archives: Immigrant workers

Canada’s military widens doors to attract permanent residents

By Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Remembrance Day in the Mbaho household will be extra special this year as the Surrey family salutes the past while heralding a new era for the Canadian Armed Forces.

“We are very honoured and excited,” said Capt. William Mbaho, whose 12-year-old daughter Isabelle, an air cadet, has been selected to lay a wreath to honour Canada’s fallen at the cenotaph in Fort Langley Nov. 11.

“Growing up in Uganda we were never far away from the military and after coming to Canada in 1992 my mind has never been far away from the military. To see Canada now planning to open its doors wider to new immigrants is very rewarding and we get to celebrate it in a very special way this Remembrance Day.”

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BC Ferries further delays increased service on busy route

By Greg Osoba, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

During holidays and the busy summer season, BC Ferries’ route between Campbell River on Vancouver Island and Quadra Island becomes congested, resulting in sailing waits. Ferry corporation spokesperson Deborah Marshall acknowledges that the waits can stretch from one to three sailings.

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B.C. needs to invest in primary care to stem the bleeding of family doctors from rural areas

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Rural communities in B.C. will continue to suffer critical doctor shortages and the knock-on effect of repeated emergency room closures until B.C.’s primary care system is modernized, an expert says.

New physicians are shunning family practice, while established doctors are abandoning it because of the way primary health care is delivered, said Dr. Rita McCracken, a family physician and researcher with the University of British Columbia’s Department of Family Practice.

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Save Old Growth organizer fears his climate activism has made him a target for deportation

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An international student leading a controversial civil resistance campaign to end old-growth logging in B.C. is fearful the Canada Border Services Agency is looking to deport him.

Zain Haq, a co-founder of the Save Old Growth (SOG) protest group behind a recent series of highway blockades across the province, has been ordered to show up at a CBSA office.

The third-year history major at Simon Fraser University who hails from Pakistan is in Canada on a study permit, a document issued by Immigration Canada. 

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B.C. moves to attract foreign nurses to overcome critical staffing crisis

By Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Desperate for healthcare workers, British Columbia announced today a series of initiatives, including bursaries of $16,000 each for 1,500 internationally educated nurses (IENs), to enter the province’s health system.

The $9 million in bursaries will go towards helping IENs get registered and licensed faster in B.C., the provincial ministry of health said in a  statement .

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