City of Edmonton, Multicultural Relations Office
The City of Edmonton’s Newcomer’s Guide is by the community, for the community and is able to adapt to the ever-changing needs of Edmontonians. It strives to be a resource with an overview of the way our city works and points the reader to what is available and where to look, if not directly mentioned in the guide itself. It provides clear, accurate and accessible information about Edmonton, municipal government, settlement services, financial literacy, faith and religious communities, education, employment, health, housing, safety, City attractions, public transit, weather and other key services. Since its development in 2008, in response to the settlement needs of newcomers, the Guide has served as an effective resource to assist new Edmontonians with finding answers to questions and ease their transition into the community.
Recently, the Guide was updated to be of better use to new Edmontonians. This new edition was a true collaboration between City staff, grassroots organizations and community members themselves. It brought to the forefront a community-based translation method that utilized a team-focused approach to translate accurately the wording, spirit and intent of the information found in the guides. So far, the Guide has been translated from English into Amharic, Arabic, Mandarin, French, Punjabi, Somali and Spanish.
The updating of the Guide started through consultation with various community organizations, newcomer groups, immigrant serving agencies, non-governmental organizations and language learning programs around the city. Through consultation, priorities were set about information that newcomers wanted to see, inclusion of information beyond immediate settlement, and sought to be an overview of services within Edmonton.
Organizations like the Indo Canadian Women’s Association see these guides as a helpful resource: “The Newcomer’s Guide To Edmonton is an extremely useful resource for newcomers to the city, translated in a variety of languages for ease and readability. Many newcomers have limited access to online resources, either due to unavailability of a computing device, internet or simply due to limited technical skills, thus they really appreciate having a hard copy of a great publication which not only informs them about resources in the new city, but also guides them about helplines, navigating the system, mobility, infrastructure, availing services and benefits, studying, working, staying healthy as well as having a great time with friends, family or on their own. We provide this book to all newcomers in our weekly Orientation to Canada information sessions at the Welcome Centre for Immigrants and advise them to use it to make informed decisions in Edmonton.”
The guide can be found for free online at edmonton.ca/newcomers.
Physical copies are currently in reprint and will be available soon; please call 311 for details.
