ADVERTORIAL
SAULT STE. MARIE HELPS NEW RESIDENTS FEEL RIGHT AT HOME The city of Sault Ste. Marie, situated on the Canada-U.S. border (with a population of 75,000), is actively seeking to attract new residents and pulling out all the stops to support them with making the place home. “When we came with my family, we got a very big reception from people we don’t even know,” says Felix Koros, who moved to the city from Kenya with his wife and five children in December 2022. In 2019, Koros, a qualified light aircraft maintenance engineer, successfully applied for a job with JD Aero, an aircraft maintenance provider based in the city. After a
delay, partly due to the pandemic, Koros and his family were able to move in late 2022 through the recently launched Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP). The city encourages local employers to use the program to fill local labour market needs. In 2022, Lackeisha Sogah, the city’s Labour Force Coordinator and point person for RNIP applications, oversaw 213 successful applications, bringing in new residents from within Canada and overseas. Koros says that assistance he received with his permanent residence application and work permit was vital in being able to make the move. The
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helped the Koros family in their settlement process. On his first day in the city, Koros happened to meet Jane Omollo, the founding president of ACCANO (African Caribbean Canadian Association of Northern Ontario). Thirty minutes later, Omollo and her husband were driving Koros and his groceries back to his new home. Interactions like this are not new to Omollo. “I like to connect, I like to reach out and if I am able to help in any way, I will not hesitate. You never know how you can be important to somebody’s life.”
Koros has made other community connections in the city too.
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On his second day in the city, Lackeisha Sogah helped him pick up more winter essentials. And colleagues from JD Aero helped him learn to drive in Canada. So, four months in, how are Koros and his family doing? “[This summer] I plan to go fishing and visit all the parks here. We are also planning on going on the Agawa Tour train. My children said they really enjoy the city and want to live here forever. There is no hassle, no traffic, you can reach your destination within two minutes from wherever you are. This is a place to be. A place to live. An amazing, amazing, amazing community,” says Koros.
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