Media Release - April 17, 2008

City of London Wins
National Multiculturalism Award

The City of London is proud to announce it has won a national "Excellence in Multiculturalism Celebration" Award presented by the Emcy (Enriching My Canada and Yours) Awards Foundation.

London's comprehensive submission highlights a number of outstanding contributions to its celebration of diversity. For instance, in 2006 the City facilitated the development of a community plan entitled Welcoming Cultural Diversity in London. This plan has become the framework for the implementation of many local initiatives. Other notable City initiatives included the launch of the Mayor's Task Force to End Woman Abuse and the Celebrating London's Cultural Diversity Conference.

Also in 2006, the City of London, in partnership with Middlesex County, collaborated with the Province of Ontario to introduce one of Ontario' s first website immigration portals. The objective of the portal is to act as a key tool to attract immigrants to our area; and to retain immigrants who already reside in our communities. The City of London website provides a single access point to our area's excellent array of immigration services and neighbourhood-based services. The site was officially launched in 2007, and the Ontario Government is funding a second phase of development of the site this year.

"London strongly values the diversity of its citizens and the strength multiculturalism brings to our community," says Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best. "Receiving this special recognition and appreciation for our efforts reinforces London's growing reputation as a welcoming and creative city."

"We are proud of our accomplishments and the impact we have been able to create in our local community," says City of London Controller Gina Barber, who attended the Awards Gala in Regina on behalf of the Mayor. "We look forward to continuing to work with our community to accomplish even more."

New City of London diversity initiatives include "Immigrants Work" - a project that will produce a resource to help employers integrate immigrants into their workforce, as well as a resource to help immigrants connect with employers.

The Emcy Awards are organized by the Emcy Awards Foundation, and sponsored by Canadian Multicultural Federation, Multicultural Council of Canada and Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan. The Emcy Awards Gala was held Wednesday night in Regina and details of the Awards Program are available at the website.