For starters, the InfoPods funded by Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada have offered easy and one-stop access to every kind of information you need to make Halton your new home since January this year.
According to OPL’s Community Development & Engagement manager, Marcus Logan, the Newcomer pages on the InfoPod received 241,714 views in the first six months of this year.
Especially for newcomer families having language barriers, these pods are "working wonders," because now valuable information can be accessed in multiple languages such as Urdu, Farsi, Bengali, Hindi, Polish, Tamil, Ukrainian, Chinese (traditional), Arabic and many more.
Halton Information Providers (HIP), a coalition of five Community Information Centres- (public libraries in Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills and Milton, and the Halton Resource Connection, Child Care Directory and Information Line) conceived and developed the InfoPods.
While browsing the Halton Newcomer InfoPod, you can search for topics as extensive as emergency/crisis, community programs, financial assistance, education and employment, health care, settlement services, mental health and many more.
The categorical searching feature was developed in consultation with newcomers and settlement workers in the region to make finding information easier. An embedded Google Translate icon can help translate English search results into any of the 23 other languages available.
There is also a library resources quick-link menu item to direct users to helpful pages on the library website, such as how to get a library card and the New to Canada page.