Major Updates Announced for ImmigrantLegal.ca

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2010
Contact: Rick Craig at 604.660.3191 or Rick.Craig(at)JusticeEducation.ca

Major Updates Announced for ImmigrantLegal.ca

Popular Website Provides Legal Information for Immigrant Settlement Workers and Newcomers to BC

ImmigrantLegal.ca is a website for settlement workers that help immigrants adjust to life in BC and Canada. The website has been significantly updated to include two new legal topics: family law and domestic violence.

Over 3,000 visitors have received information on employment standards and residential tenancy from the website since its launch in April 2010. Each topic features numerous booklets, fact sheets, videos and an interactive map of service organizations that can be sorted by region or language.

ImmigrantLegal.ca is the website for the Immigrant Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) Consortium – a collaboration of 12 organizations working together to improve the delivery of PLEI to immigrants. The Justice Education Society (JES) is the project’s lead agency.

“Settlement workers can use the information on ImmigrantLegal.ca to provide valuable support for immigrants who are adjusting to life in a new country,” said Rick Craig, executive director of the JES. “This adjustment includes learning about Canada’s laws and how our justice system works.”

For example, if an immigrant approaches a settlement worker with a question about divorce, the settlement worker can refer to ImmigrantLegal.ca. The Family Law section features booklets and fact sheets that the settlement worker can use as an information source, PDF court forms that can be filled out, links to online resources and a directory of service organizations that can provide more help.

The four topics that the project has covered – family law, domestic violence, employment standards and residential tenancy – were chosen because of the high number of newcomers with legal issues in these matters.

About the Immigrant PLEI Consortium
The PLEI Consortium Project is a collaborative pilot project with the goal of enhancing the delivery of public legal education and information (PLEI) for immigrants in Metro Vancouver. By providing improved access to PLEI, newcomers to Canada will be better able to identify and address their legal needs and have an increased awareness of core Canadian legal values. The consortium’s member organizations are:

  •  Justice Education Society
  • Legal Services Society
  • The People's Law School
  • Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre
  • DIVERSEcity
  • Immigrant Services Society of BC
  • MOSAIC
  • North Shore Multicultural Society
  • OPTIONS Surrey Community Services Society
  • Progressive Intercultural Community Services
  • S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
  • Vancouver and Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services

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For more information please contact Rick Craig, executive director of the Justice Education Society and chair of the Immigrant PLEI Consortium, at 604.660.3191 or Rick.Craig(@)JusticeEducation.ca.