The project director for the Rural Talks to Rural Conference in Blyth says one thing he learned at the conference last month is that Manitoba has had considerable success in attracting immigrants to rural communities and keeping them there.
Peter Smith explains they have teams of people in that province waiting to welcome immigrants to their communities, get them set up, and address their concerns about things like language, faith, food and culture.
They also have people ready to help the immigrants either get involved in investment projects or find jobs somewhere in the community.
Smith says that structure doesn't exist anywhere else in the country and the result is that rural Manitoba has a high retention rate for keeping new immigrants in the community.
