Goals set out by the City of Morden through its Skilled Worker Immigration Program are being met and even being exceeded.

"We're very happy with the numbers, we're happy with the quality and quantity of people that are coming in...we're happy with how people are settling into the city," said Immigration Coordination Shelly Voth.  

Voth says there's been good buzz about about the city's immigration initiative. So much so that the number of applications received each year is always increasing. Voth says they're always aiming to put 50 families into the immigration system a year, which is happening.  And from the number of applications they receive, she noted they're only selecting about 5 % of what they've been getting.

Although the goal is to bring in 50 new families a year through the Skilled Worker Immigration Program, Voth noted they do also help other people through other programs.

Around 60 new families made Morden home in 2016.  Voth explained the higher number for the year was due to a backlog in the immigration system.  "We've always met our target as far as the number of people we're putting into the system, but because the immigration system backlogs itself, we did backlog a bit into 2016.  So 2016 did see higher numbers than previous years."

Voth feels bringing new people into Morden is doing great things for the community.  She says she's heard a lot of positive feedback from people that have their kids in the school system. "It's starting to become a very interesting cultural mix in the classrooms.  Obviously there's a lot of advantage for kids that have grown up in Morden to meet people from other places and to learn about other cultures.  I think it's been a positive thing."

Voth noted employers are also saying a lot of positive things about the people that have been coming.  "Their skills are targeted to what they've been looking for, and their language is always strong enough to nicely fit in."