July 19, 2010
GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP BREAKS GROUND ON MULTICULTURAL FAMILY CENTRE IN WINNIPEG

The provincial government is distributing this news release on behalf of the governments of Canada and Manitoba and the Salvation Army.

Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger and Shelly Glover, Member of Parliament for Saint Boniface, together with Wendi Park, Salvation Army Director, today celebrated the beginning of construction for the new Salvation Army Multicultural Family Centre.

The Multicultural Family Centre provides essential programs and services that respond to social needs and enhance the quality of life for multicultural communities across the region. The new centre will offer employment training, prenatal and parenting support groups, kids club, youth drop-in, and English mentoring programs, in addition to a food bank. The new 14,000-square-foot facility will be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System Standards.
“Every year, more people from around the world are making Manitoba their home,” said Selinger. “In 1998, fewer than 3,000 immigrants were coming to Manitoba each year and by 2009, that number has grown to almost 14,000. The Multicultural Family Centre provides essential life skills and supports that makes the transition much easier for new Manitobans.”

“The Government of Canada is proud to invest in the Multicultural Family Centre,” said Glover. “Building this new facility will allow the Salvation Army to continue serving the residents and newcomers of the area, as well as expand their services for the children, students and adults for years to come, while providing the much needed jobs to support the economy today.”

“The new centre will better facilitate the vision we are realizing to be an empowering presence in the community,” said Park, the Multicultural Family Centre Director. “While many of our neighbours and participants experience multiple barriers, we are privileged to journey alongside, carry burdens together, and celebrate the gift of hope in our community.” Park added, “We want our newcomer, single parent, our under-employed adult, our youth, and our senior to know that they are not alone and that we are better together.”

The total eligible project costs are $4.5 million, with the federal and provincial governments each providing one-third of the costs, up to $1.5 million each. The Salvation Army will contribute the remaining one-third of funding.

Today’s announcement continues the important steps the Province of Manitoba is taking to support economic growth by investing $1.6 billion this year, into infrastructure to stimulate the economy, create jobs, and renew the province’s roads, schools, health facilities, and water treatment facilities.

Across all of its funds, Infrastructure Canada has now committed more than $10.2 billion toward over 6,000 infrastructure projects as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. When combined with the contributions of funding partners, there is close to $30.5 billion committed to infrastructure projects across the country. Overall, the Government of Canada has invested $143 million in more than 100 projects under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund across Manitoba.