Newcomer resources in York Region reflect growth of language diversity
Of the 1.1 million residents in York Region, 29 per cent speak a language other than English at home

yorkregion.com
June 1, 2017
By Ali Raza

Picture yourself as an immigrant who has just arrived in Canada and has settled in a community in York Region. You don’t speak English and you need to get your life in order; employment, housing, school, etc.

It sounds like an overwhelming task, but it’s one in which millions of immigrants in Canada’s history have succeeded at. Today in York Region is no different.

Arpine Manukyan, 31, came to Canada in 2011, she settled in Woodbridge and had three children. Though she is fluent in academic-level Russian and Armenian, her lack of English knowledge made life challenging.

Two months ago, Manukyan decided her children were old enough to give her time to enrol in English language classes at a York Region Welcome Centre in Vaughan. In just two months, she’s all but mastered the language, speaking confidently to her teachers and peers.

Manukyan said when she first arrived in Canada with no knowledge of English everything was challenging.

“I lost myself, I didn’t know how to go or do anything without any English,” she said.

Almost fluent now, Manukyan credits her progress to watching English language television, listening to radio and reading English books. While raising three children, she slips in English language practice whenever she has 15 or 20 minutes to spare.

Now after learning English with the goal of improving it to match her Russian and Armenian abilities, Manukyan stresses the importance of learning a new language.

“To me, to live in this country, to be a good citizen, you have to learn the language, the tradition, the culture. It’s important,” she said.

Of the region’s 1.1 million residents, about 89 per cent speak English. Six per cent have knowledge of French, while five per cent of residents have no knowledge of either official language.

Seventy-one per cent of residents speak English at home. Given the data on languages and the region’s growing immigrant communities, the Welcome Centres opened as a resource for newcomers and anyone to learn English.

York Region Welcome Centres also aid newcomers in settlement and employment. With five centres across Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham and Newmarket, they offer services in several languages, including Arabic, Cambodian, Cantonese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, Urdu, Vietnamese and Dari.

Regina Chan, general manager of the Vaughan Welcome Centre, says a common theme among stories from English students is they wish they had learned the language faster.

“A lot of students who share their story say they worked when they first came to Canada,” Chan said. “Taking English classes was not a priority at the time - for survival they got a job.”

Chan says newcomers may have had enough English skills to “get by” at their first jobs, but after three or four years they felt “stuck.”

“That’s when they thought to come back, learn the language and explore new pathways for employment,” Chan said.

The centres are funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, but managed by five agencies across York Region, including Social Enterprise and COSTI Immigrant Services.

Social Enterprise partnership co-ordinator Darlene Brown says the centres were created knowing that most clients would not speak English fluently or at all.

“With migratory trends being what they were, the anticipation was that this portion would grow over the years,” she said.

That demographic has grown considerably since the first Welcome Centre opened in Vaughan in 2007.

After English, the most popular language in York Region is Chinese (including Cantonese and Mandarin). Approximately 12 per cent of York Region residents speak either Cantonese or Mandarin.

Three per cent of residents speak Russian, two per cent speak Farsi, also known as Persian. Another two per cent of residents speak Italian and two per cent speak Tamil.

Korean, Urdu, Spanish, Punjabi and Gujarati are spoken by one per cent of residents each. Three of those languages - Urdu, Punjabi and Gujarati - originate from India and Pakistan, reflecting a growing community of South Asian Canadians.

The last three per cent of residents speak Tagalog, Arabic, Vietnamese, Romanian and French.

In total there are 122 languages spoken by York Region residents.

Welcome Centres in different municipalities are also reflecting which languages are growing in which part of the region.

“You have a higher population of Asians in the Markham area,” Brown said. “So they’re looking for supports with Asian languages and support for seniors. In Newmarket, we’re seeing a growing trend here with Farsi speakers, where before it used to be Russian.”

Chan says as the northern municipalities in York Region are also seeing a growth in foreign-language speakers.

“Newmarket is now very mixed,” she said. “We have Vietnamese- and Cambodian-speaking clients.”

Richmond Hill is home to several Farsi and Russian speakers, while Vaughan is seeing a growing Arabic-speaking community, Chan added.