What is NewToBC?
NewToBC connects new immigrants to the information they need to settle in BC. NewToBC does this in three unique ways.
- The Library Champions Project (LCP) is a volunteer program for immigrants. Through a series of training sessions, Library Champions learn about library and settlement services, programs, and resources. They also build communication and presentation skills, learn about different cultures, gain volunteer experience and local references, increase their confidence, develop a deeper understanding of their new community, and make friends and connections. Trained Library Champions share this knowledge and help other newcomers access library and settlement programs and services.
Each year, the NewToBC team delivers training to 150+ people in 15 groups in communities across the Mainland / Southwest region of BC. Since the program started in 2013, more than 1,750 newcomers have been trained as Library Champions. Beginning in Winter 2021, the Library Champions Project will be offered to newcomers in communities and regions across BC. To date, Library Champions have reached out and provided library and settlement information to more than 96,700 other newcomers! - The NewToBC team updates this website and its online resources to ensure immigrants and the people who help immigrants have access to accurate and up-to-date settlement information. The team works with its library and community partners to regularly review and update these resources. Library, settlement and immigration news and events are sourced and posted each week. Regularly updated resources include:
- an inventory of Immigrant Programs and Services in communities across the Mainland / Southwest region of BC;
- a Settling in BC: Questions and Answers resource that provides links to credible information on a range of settlement-related topics;
- information about public libraries in communities across the region including library hours and locations and news and events;
- Collections in Different Languages is an inventory of materials in different languages held at different libraries;
- a database of English Language Learning Materials organized by language skill, by level, and by type of material; and
- Community Immigrant Demographic Profiles for cities in and around Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
- NewToBC uses social media to support newcomers to actively participate in their communities. New immigrants and others follow our channels to learn about and register for workshops, language and employment training, festivals, concerts, job fairs, and more! The NewToBC social media channels have thousands of followers. The team posts daily to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. Start following us today!
NewToBC acknowledges and extends appreciation for the opportunity to work in the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of Indigenous Peoples across British Columbia.
