The document discusses the Centre for Newcomers, an organization that provides services to help newcomers integrate into the Calgary community. It summarizes the services provided, including English language classes, settlement services, career counseling, and programs for children and youth. It highlights the story of Philip, a newcomer who was able to find a job in his field of engineering after receiving assistance from the Centre. It requests donor support for the Centre's programs and initiatives that help newcomers build new lives in Calgary and contribute to the community.

1. Better and Stronger Together

2. Better and Stronger Together!
You have an opportunity to help newcomers to our community,
a chance to help welcome them as only Calgarians can!
Your support, as a donor and a friend of the Centre for Newcomers, is
critical for the success of our clients and our mission. Together we can
build a community that is diverse, integrated, and inclusive – because
we are indeed better and stronger together.
Calgary is a city of opportunity, ranked in 2014 as the fifth most
liveable city in the world. Yet for newcomers with limited English
language skills, an international education that may not be recognized
at par in Canada, and no local connections, our city can be a bleak and
isolating place. Newcomers to Canada are arriving in Calgary in
increasing numbers, increasing demand for the Centre’s services. In
addition, there are new and emerging needs that the Centre is
positioned to address.
I would like to take this
opportunity to thank the
Centre for Newcomers
and their staff and
funders for providing
me this opportunity to
put my life together.
– Marcia
Better and Stronger Together 1

3. Better and Stronger Together 2
People like you help the Centre for Newcomers by supporting services for newcomers and
other initiatives to help Calgary to be even more welcoming to newcomers. Because Calgary
benefits from the integration of newcomers, your investment in the Centre makes a
difference in the lives of all Calgarians.
Making a Difference in the Lives
of All Calgarians
In 2014, the Centre for Newcomers provided services to over
10,000 newcomers and continues to engage the community in
initiatives that promote diversity, participation, integration and
active citizenship.

4. Life-Changing Assistance
Meet Philip, an immigrant with many years of education and professional experience who
came to Calgary with his wife and young son, and the family’s luggage, savings and dreams.
An engineer by profession, he was unable immediately to find a job in his field. To make ends
meet, Philip found survival jobs, with low pay and no connection to his profession. Coming
home each day feeling exhausted, downhearted, and at times humiliated, he found his family
relationships starting to suffer. Acknowledging his dilemma, he discovered the Centre for
Newcomers, and connected with supports that helped him to implement important changes.
At the Centre, Philip and his wife attended English classes and improved their English
language skills. They worked with professional settlement and employment counsellors to
identify and address their family and career priorities. Inspired, and armed with a realistic
and hopeful career plan, Philip completed additional training related to his profession. He
continued to connect with the Centre as he applied for engineering jobs. Though worried and
down to their last $15, he received the good news of a job offer! Now a successful Project Co-
ordinator for an oil and gas company, he can look back on the sequence of steps to success.
Finding work appropriate to his previous training and experience did not come immediately
or easily. It took time, risk, sacrifice, and the life-changing assistance of the Centre for
Newcomers.
My family cannot thank you enough for the advice and suggestions that have had a huge
impact on my view of life and helped me set my priorities. My wife has now adjusted to the
new routine, working part time and being the super mom and wife. My son is now in
school. If not for the career counselling and guidance, I will probably be taking a third or
fourth job to make ends meet.
Better and Stronger Together 3

5. Our Roots
In 1988, the Centre for Newcomers was established by a
group of committed volunteers to respond to the flow of
refugees from civil wars in Central America. The Centre
quickly grew into a full-suite immigrant-serving
organization, with clients each year from over 100 countries.
Professional services include English language instruction
for adults, settlement services for individuals and families,
career and employment-related services, and specific
programs for children and youth. Although the Centre now
has a professional staff of over 120, volunteers still play a key
role in supporting newcomers to Canada to make
connections in Calgary.
Nearly 20,000 immigrants arrive each year in Calgary to be
part of this dynamic community. These newcomers bring
rich professional, personal and cultural experiences and are
eager to make their contribution to this prosperous city. Yet
many newcomers, like Philip, need some support to settle
and integrate into their new community successfully. The
Centre for Newcomers provides life-changing services for the
increasing number of newcomer families. Their integration
is essential to our identity as a diverse and welcoming city.
Each year the Centre for Newcomers serves an
average of:
• 2,500 newcomers in adult English classes
• 3,000 families in their settlement process
• 1,000 children and youth who are adjusting to Canada
• 5,000 clients in their job search, career training and
counselling
The Centre supports newcomers to build a new life in
Canada, as employees, citizens and neighbours. Integration
into the community is the cornerstone of the Centre’s work,
bringing together newcomers with the receiving community
for the benefit of both.
I wish to thank you for
the immense assistance
you rendered to us in
settling down, for your
willingness and readiness
to help, counsel and make
referral.
– Magda
Better and Stronger Together 4

6. Better and Stronger Together 5
Growing Together
Newcomers bring skills and determination to build a new life in Canada: motivated,
experienced, and courageous, they are programmed to succeed! Everyone benefits when
the community is receptive and encouraging of the contributions of newcomers.
Currently, the Centre’s services are oversubscribed and the demand for more – both in
volume and variety – continues to grow. Government funding supports many, but not all
of the needed services.
We rely on financial support from donors like you for many areas of program delivery and
enhancement – including our dreams for a more integrated and inclusive Calgary. Your
support of the Centre for Newcomers ensures that thousands of new Calgarians have
access to all the benefits of the many programs offered at the Centre, for children, youth
and adults. Your investment allows the Centre to respond to changing newcomer needs
and program gaps with new services. Donors like you are vital contributors to our ability to
sustain essential services beyond government funding. We can do it, together!
These key initiatives address service enhancement and gaps or limitations in services:
Essential Program Delivery
$100,000 above annual funding
Youth Program
$750,000 over 3 years
Children’s Settlement
and Pre-school Literacy
$1,000,000 over 3 years
The Next Steps Fund
$300,000 over 3 years

7. Better and Stronger Together 6
We Can’t Do It Without You!
Today I signed my
contract, it is a very
suitable position for me,
and it seems I will have
enough time to look after
my family and their
integration into Canadian
society.
I have to mention that
your workshop played a
relevant role to get the job,
I just couldn’t do without
your tips and advice.
– Anand
Essential Program Delivery
Fundraising goal: $100,000 above annual funding
The services provided for newcomers are tailored to the needs of newcomers in
the early years, and also for those who, after a number of years in Canada, do not
feel at home in the new country. However, with well-designed services for
specific groups we inevitably encounter newcomers, such as senior family
members, or other groups of newcomers with unique needs. Support of
$100,000 each year, beyond the funding for our core services, enables us to
address the many unique situations that arise.
Youth Programs
Fundraising goal: $750,000 over 3 years
The Centre has extensive experience in effective programming for immigrant
youth who have not yet achieved success in either school or work in Canada.
However, government support has recently ended. This lack of consistent
investment creates a barrier, where we used to be able to reduce barriers to
success. We have the skills to serve 100 youth a year. Participants would be
offered a menu of cultural integration and pre-employment opportunities, based
on their situation and needs, to a maximum of two weeks of full-time services,
at a cost of less than $30/client hour. We have been hugely successful with this
type of service in the past; the need and opportunity have not disappeared, but we
need community investment and participation to achieve success.
Children’s Settlement and Pre-school Literacy
Fundraising goal: $1,000,000 over 3 years
Children aged 3-5, accompanied by a parent, join a learning group that focuses on
settlement and integration in Canada while supporting preparation for school.
Families learn together to adjust to life in Canada, through activities that focus on
child development needs and pre-school literacy preparation. This service
provides a learning opportunity of 40 hours per child for 130 children per year, at
a cost of $350,000/year. Enjoyable group learning activities introduce young
children to a new environment and education system, transforming what can be a
stressful time into one where the entire family can support young newcomers to
enter school and succeed.
The Next Steps Fund
Fundraising goal: $300,000 over 3 years
We are very successful in providing short-term services. We are not resourced to support and assist
newcomers once they have completed a program. It is critical that we initiate a robust client follow-up
service to ensure that clients have received the support they need to be successful, or to provide additional
supports as necessary. This will also generate feedback that will help us to assess and improve services
over time; and, to create a supportive alumni base, which we can enlist to support other newcomers as
volunteers, mentors, and donors.

8. Let’s Be Better and Stronger Together
This is an important time of growth at the Centre for Newcomers and in Calgary. You can be a
leader in welcoming newcomers, ensuring that we can meet the demand for our already
oversubscribed services.
The time for us to act is now. And we can’t do it without you.
You can play a vital role in supporting newcomers to find and create opportunities and
connections through your support of the Centre for Newcomers. You can be part of creating a
welcoming environment for newcomers to Canada in the following ways:
• Make a charitable gift to the Centre to support our essential work with newcomers.
• Connect us to potential donors and sponsors of services for immigrants.
To find out more or discuss how you can be involved, please contact:
Francis Boakye, Community Relations Manager
f.boakye@centrefornewcomers.ca
403-539-5853
#1010, 999 - 36th Street NE
Calgary, AB T2A 7X6
www.centrefornewcomers.ca
Charitable Registration #100731660RR001
Our Vision
A community that values diversity, in which
people of all backgrounds find and create
opportunities to fulfill their dreams and
participate fully as citizens.
Our Mission
To achieve integration of newcomers
in the community through services and
initiatives that promote diversity,
participation and citizenship.