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Getting Started

CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP INITIATIVES

The "Institute for Canadian Citizenship" was launched in Red Deer in 2007. this national not-for-profit organization will "help to bridge the gap between newly arrived immigrant and fully engaged citizen".

In her remarks, former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson said that Red Deer was chosen for the launch because "it seems to be ahead of the pack when it comes to attracting immigrants and keeping them"¹²⁵.

NUMBER OF FIRST WAVE IMMIGRANTS BELOW LOW INCOME CUTOFF

A first wave immigrant to Red Deer is a person who declares Red Deer as their first place of settlement upon arrival in Canada for the first time.

Low Income Cutoff (LICO) is defined by Statistics Canada as an income level at which a family has to spend a greater proportion of its income on necessities than the average family of similar size.

The proportion of first wave immigrants in Red Deer living below the Low Income Cutoff (LICO) in 2001 was 11.2%. This was 42% lower than the proportion of first wave immigrants living below LICO in Alberta and 69% lower than the proportion of first wave immigrants living below LICO in Canada^{126 127}.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF IMMIGRANTS

In Red Deer, the unemployment rate of immigrants who entered the country six to ten years ago was 2.8 % in 2001. This was 51 % of the local average non-immigrant unemployment rate down from 77 % in 1996. At the national level, the ratio of the unemployment rate of recent immigrants to the non-immigrant rate was 172 % and at the provincial level it was 123 % in 2001¹²⁸.

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

In 2003, the most recent data available in the unemployment data series, the youth (15-24 years old) unemployment rate for Red Deer was 9.9 %. This was 8 % above the provincial youth unemployment rate of 9.2 and 27 % below the national average of 13.6. Overall the youth unemployment rate has decreased 4.3 percentage points from 1987, when it was 14.2 % of the youth population¹²⁹.

PERCENTAGE OF RED DEER’S CITIZENS BORN OUTSIDE OF CANADA

In 2001, 5,760 of Red Deer's 67,707 people were born outside of Canada. This made up 8.5% of the city's population¹³⁰.

Please see Appendix 11.0 for more info.

NUMBER OF RED DEER CITIZENS WHO BECAME CANADIAN CITIZENS IN 2006

The Red Deer Area covers from Ponoka to Olds and from the British Columbia border to the Saskatchewan border.

In 2005 there were 359 residents of the Red Deer area that became Canadian citizens and in 2006 there were 195 residents of the Red Deer area that became Canadian citizens¹³¹.

This compares to the 218, 966 new Canadian citizens for 2005-2006.

No documentation for Alberta (prairie provinces together as part of statistic)¹³².

NUMBER OF NEW ARRIVALS TO RED DEER FROM OUTSIDE OF ALBERTA OR OVERSEAS

In the 2004 -2005, the Red Deer Economic Region had an estimated growth from net inter-provincial migration of 1, 285 persons.

The net international migration rate was an estimated 893 persons¹³³.

The net inter-provincial migration rate for Alberta for 2005-2006 was 57, 105 persons¹³⁴.

Retention rates that are Red Deer specific are not currently available¹³⁵.

NUMBER OF ESL (ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE) CLASSES OFFERED IN RED DEER AND NUMBER OF REGISTRANTS IN THE CLASSES

In 2006-2007 CARE (Central Alberta Refuge Effort) offered two different English as a Second Language (ESL) programs.

LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers) offered classes in 3 sessions to a total of 118 people. There were 74 Spring session registrants, 83 Fall session registrants, and 74 registrants in Winter classes. Many students reregister for multiple classes, as LINC offers four levels of English instruction. This program is funded by the Federal Government by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration for permanent residents and immigrants.

Alternate ESL (is funded by the Lifelong Learning Council and is open to anyone including, immigrants, visa permit workers, as the funding is non restrictive).

These classes occur 2 evenings weekly in 3 ten-week sessions. These are less formal classes in which numbers of participants numbers are not traced but on average 10-16 students attend such classes. This program is funded by the Lifelong Learning Council of Red Deer, with participants being required to pay a small fee for service¹³⁶.

MIGRATION RATES

Red Deer’s net migration in 2001 was 3% points less than Alberta, but 11% points greater than Canada at 18%¹³⁷.

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