Immigration consultant opening office in Sault Ste. Marie

A new business with a focus on helping immigrants adjust to life in Canada is setting up shop in Sault Ste. Marie this week.

Part of its aim is to provide intercultural training for immigrants looking for work and also for employers facing labour shortages.

InterCultural Avec Immigration (ICA) officially opens its doors at the Machine Shop on Huron Street on June 1.

CEO Jennifer Johnson said her goal is to centralize inter-cultural skill development and support the integration of people with different backgrounds.

"Sault Ste. Marie is my hometown and I was working previously with international students coming to the area and I could see that there was a need to give them a little bit more support," said Johnson, who adds part of her work is also to assist employers looking to hire foreign workers.

The City of Sault Ste. Marie is also working on paving the way for newcomers. It’s matching skilled international workers with employers through the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program. That initiative received $500,000 in funding from Ottawa last year.

"We’ve been able to help dozens of local employers. Finding skilled labour, that’s been a real challenge to find both locally and within Canada," said Travis Anderson, the city's director of tourism and community development. "So, it’s been really effective with respect to marketing and actually being able to amplify their job searches outside of Sault Ste. Marie."

Anderson said the northern Ontario city is seeing an uptick in immigrants settling in there. He adds labour sectors such as skilled trades, healthcare, engineering and information technology appear to be the most in need of workers.