Last Sunday I attended an event in the City of Winkler [Manitoba Canada] Park that thrilled me. Why, because I witnessed, participated with, experienced the thrill of celebration like I haven’t seen in a while with over 2,000 new Canadian immigrants, mostly from Germany.
Star 7 International is an immigration consulting firm whose primary goal is to assist skilled workers, business persons, farmers, and professionals from abroad to immigrate to Canada and settle in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Adele Dyck, who started the Winkler, MB firm in 1996, has helped over 1200 families with their immigration to Manitoba, 10,000 people represented by the 2,000 who came together in Winkler to celebrate. “We have gained extensive experience by counseling families from western and eastern Europe and Latin America, to realize their dream of living and working in Canada,” says Dyck on her website. “The immigration process can be a time-consuming and costly undertaking. We encourage those interested in immigrating to Canada to carefully consider this life-changing decision together with family and friends.”
I sat with a young family at lunch where Robert, the husband had moved from Russia to Germany 19 years ago. He and his family were visiting his sister who lives between Morden and Winkler, and I don’t believe it was any coincidence that they attended this celebration. When his sister sat down beside to join in the conversation a little later, she bubbled over with enthusiasm for Canada and more specifically, Manitoba. When I asked her whether she had ever considered moving back to Germany, she enthusiastically stated, “I’ve made the trip once to Manitoba, and I don’t intend to make it again’.
One could tell she was turning her Manitoba charm on her brother hoping they would soon follow. I asked Robert about that. “We have most of our family in Germany, both sets of parents, chimed in his young wife, and it’s a big decision.” This was Robert’s third time in Canada, and they still had three weeks left of a four-week stay.
Will he make the big move? Judging from the 2,000 gathered to celebrate their new citizenship, one knows the magnetic force of exuberance will draw on him hard. I talked to Bernie Thiessen while waiting in line for the delicious lunch served by Star 7 people. Bernie is a local pastor and also manages Meridian Industries in Winkler who employees at least 50 of the new Canadians.
He was proud to have participated in the morning worship service, and even happier to have those people in his employ. Back in 19997, Meridian could attract enough workers. He said this nominee program under which he can employ these people has been a phenomenal experience. Next month marks the 10 year anniversary of the signing of the Canada-Manitoba Immigration Agreement. That agreement allows for the province to nominate potential immigrants with specific skills to come to Manitoba.
The immigration nominee program matches immigrant workers with labour shortages in Manitoba, giving the Manitoba economy a huge shot in the arm. It not only boosted many communities losing population, but provided labour so local industries could grow and not have to leave Manitoba. The federal provincial nominee program has 60 per cent of total immigrants coming to Manitoba, mostly through the hard work of Star 7 International.
Sunday, about 2000 people who have come to Manitoba under the program celebrated their new lives in Canada. I’m happy to have participated in that celebration because it made me stand up and think, even evaluate how I and sometimes others who have lived in Manitoba, never give the greatness of this land a second thought, and for the most part taking it for granted. It takes young couples, together with their parents and in some cases grandparents from another part of the world, to illuminate that sparkle. In the future, I will write stories about the testimonies of those people who want only Canada, and no other country.