Immigration Partnership
New to Canada?
Welcome to Huron County! We have some of Canada’s best beaches, the prettiest sunsets and stunning hiking trails. Our farmers’ markets and tasting trails are a great way to discover one of Ontario’s most agriculturally productive regions.
Huron County is divided into nine municipalities and is home to five towns: Clinton, Exeter, Goderich, Seaforth and Wingham. There are five villages: Bayfield, Blyth, Brussels, Hensall and Zurich, along with more than 60 hamlets.
If you are a newcomer to Canada, you can get FREE settlement services. Please call the Newcomer Settlement Advisor for Huron County to make an appointment at (226) 973-7572.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada funds the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario to provide newcomer settlement services. Settlement advisors support newcomers to Canada as they settle.
Our Working Groups
Immigrant Advisory Council
This working group focuses on guiding and supporting the development and implementation of activities that celebrate diversity and foster belonging. The group also focuses on making Huron County a place where immigrants feel like they belong and are welcomed.
Research Working Group
This working group has been formed to improve the Local Immigration Partnership’s knowledge of the trends related to the settlement and integration in Huron County. The research working group’s goal is to collect data on how to enhance services and inform the Immigration Partnership and community strategies to retain newcomers in the region.
Employment Working Group
This working group focuses on improving the employment and skills development outcomes of newcomers in the region. The goal of this group is to inform employers of the benefits of hiring newcomers and to identify strategies to retain a newcomer workforce, as well as identifying initiatives that support newcomer businesses. The working group advises the Local Immigration Partnership on employment and labour-related matters and trends.
Campaigns and Events

Welcoming Week | September
Huron County Immigration Partnership, in collaboration with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and other Immigration Partnerships across Canada, celebrate Welcoming Week. For Huron County, Welcoming Week is about inspiring people to think about what we can do to ensure everyone–including newcomers and immigrants–thrives and feels welcomed. During Welcoming Week, we affirm the importance of the values that unite us as neighbours, friends, and colleagues, regardless of where we come from.
Stay tuned for more details on Welcoming Week 2025

Newcomer Day at Camp
This event is hosted by The Goderich Lions, the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario and the Huron County Local Immigration Partnership. Admission is FREE.
Stay tuned for more details on Newcomer Day at Camp 2025
Research
Embracing Diversity: Newcomer Experiences in Perth and Huron Counties (2017)
Social Research & Planning Council, 2017
This qualitative research project conducted focus group discussions with 22 newcomers to Canada living in Huron and Perth, along with conducting a survey to 70 newcomers/immigrants in the area.
The project identified that newcomers were most likely to move to Huron or Perth because of better employment opportunities or being closer to family or friends
The project also found that the main challenges faced by newcomers included:
- Limited English language proficiency
- Difficulty finding employment
- Navigating the social services sector
- Feelings of social isolation and loneliness
perthhuron.unitedway.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Embracing-Diversity-Full-Report-WEB.pdf
Discrimination Experienced by Immigrants, Visible Minorities, and Indigenous Peoples in Huron-Perth (2021)
The Discrimination Experienced by Immigrants, Visible Minorities, and Indigenous Peoples in Huron-Perth 2021 report provides insight into the discrimination experiences of immigrants, visible minorities, and Indigenous Peoples in in Huron County and Perth County.
Vulnerable, Inequitable, and Precarious: Impacts of COVID-19 on newcomers, immigrants, and migrant workers in rural Canada (2022)
The Journal of Rural and Community Development, 2022
By Louis Helps, Ray Silvius and Ryan Gibson
This research found that during the Covid-19 pandemic, immigrants and newcomers living and working in rural areas and small towns faced distinct challenges, including:
- Increased social isolation and risk of illness
- Economic marginalization
- Difficulty finding appropriate immigrant support services
Snapshot of Discrimination in Huron County (2023)
Community Engaged Scholarship Institute at the University of Guelph and Huron County Immigration Partnership, 2023
By Emily Duncan and Meghan Wrathall
This qualitative research project conducted semi-structured interviews with people who were visible minorities and lived in Huron County.
The project identified that discrimination included overt comments and insults, microaggressions, and differential treatment in public spaces due to race. The impact of discrimination was that it had a negative effect on an individual’s mental health.
The project found that discrimination took place within:
- Extended families
- Hospitals
- Churches
- Schools
- Sporting facilitites
- Workplaces
- Restaurants
- Shops
atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/7efea63a-8aa1-4901-a8a8-585618569de6/content
Huron-Perth Immigrant Survey (2023-2024)
Key findings about the survey respondents:
- 195 immigrants and newcomers to Canada participated in the survey and represented some of the major categories of immigrants – family, economic and temporary work visas
- 65% of participants indicated that they were newcomers, living in Canada for less than five years
- 62% of participants indicated they are a racialized person (i.e. they hold at least one non-white racial identity)
- 92% of participants reported speaking English well and 89.4% reported being proficient in reading and writing in English
Community Integration
- 69% said their community was welcoming
- 60% reported they would be recommend their community to other immigrants to move to
- 69% of participants in Huron and 65% in Perth reported they felt a sense of belonging in their communities
- 37% reported volunteering, with most volunteering with organizations focused on immigrants and newcomers, religious services, or sports and recreation
Education, Employment and Income
- 43% reported that their level of international education did not corresponded with the level of their Canadian job
- 76% were employed (full-time and part-time, including self-employed or owning their own business)
- 40% reported that their income was not enough for their household needs
Key Challenges and Solutions
- The cost of living and financial issues was the biggest challenges identified, with 53% in Huron and 41% in Perth expressing this concern in the past year
- The most helpful change suggested by participants to better support other immigrants in Huron and Perth Counties was:
- Implement better programs for immigrants to find work or start a business (34%)
- Improve the availability of public transportation (28%)
- Have more affordable housing available (26%)
- Improve social integration (23%)
- Increase education for employers on hiring, retaining and promoting immigrants (23%).
Welcoming Immigrants: Community Perceptions from the Lived Experience Panel (LEEP)
This report aims to offer a snapshot into non-immigrant attitudes towards immigrants in Huron and Perth’s rural and small communities. A survey was conducted among persons with lived experiences of systems and who have faced discrimination in the past to explore attitudes towards immigrants.
Survey respondents are members of Huron Perth Public Health’s Lived Experience Expert Panel (LEEP).
The survey found that most respondents knew recent newcomers, particularly from India, Syria, Mexico, and Ukraine. Roughly 25 per cent of the respondents considered themselves to be very welcoming and 60 per cent roughly somewhat welcoming. The respondents also identified that newcomers had limited options for housing, suitable and economically viable jobs, and public transportation. The respondents were most likely to welcome newcomers to the community by asking questions and listening to others, supporting a small business run by a newcomer or attending a cultural activity or event.
This survey suggests that people who have lived experience of systems and have experienced discrimination in rural and small communities are generally welcoming towards newcomers in spite of any economic hardships they may have faced or still face. This bucks the growing anti-immigrant sentiments drawn by recent national polls on the subject.
This report on the LEEP survey starts by introducing the subject, followed by a brief examination of the reasons why the survey was commissioned. This is followed by an exploration of the role of Local Immigration Partnerships, the survey methodology, a summary of findings, and the survey limitations. The report concludes with lessons learned from the LEEP.
Welcoming Immigrants: Community Perceptions from the Lived Experience Panel (LEEP)
Immigration Profile Infographic
Huron County’s Immigration Partnership is funded in part by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Contact Economic Development
County of Huron
Economic Development
57 Napier Street,
Goderich, ON
N7A 1W2
Phone:
519.524.8394 Ext 6
Hours:
Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.