The Municipality of Chatham-Kent and CK Local Immigration Partnership are looking to learn more about the experiences of immigrant residents as part of efforts to make the region more welcoming and grow the population.
To that end, they’ve developed a survey. The survey questions are based on the 19 characteristics of a welcoming community, such as access to housing, employment, transportation, and opportunities for community engagement. The survey also asks about experiences getting connected in the community and feeling a sense of belonging.
This survey is a follow-up to the first CK Immigration Survey launched in 2020 to see how trends are changing locally.
To see the results of the 2020 CK Immigration Survey, visit www.Chatham-Kent.ca/CKLIP.
According to the 2021 Census Canada statistics, 9,240 residents of the municipality are immigrants out of 104,316 total residents, making the immigrant population just over nine per cent. Between 2016 and 2021, 845 immigrants settled in Chatham-Kent.
Victoria Bodnar, manager of the municipality’s community attraction and promotion division, said “hearing directly from locals who have immigrated to Chatham-Kent and are making the community home is integral to our on-going success of being a welcoming community for others and continuing to grow.”
The 30-question survey is being offered in seven languages, including new additions of Punjabi and Ukrainian. Speakers of additional languages who want to complete the survey can reach out to the Chatham-Kent Local Immigration Partnership for support.
The survey is open until Feb. 12 and can be found at letstalkchatham-kent.ca/2024immigration.
