Foreign-born newcomers to Calgary outpace resources

New census numbers show one in five people in Canada is now foreign born and the surge of immigrants to Calgary is straining resources, say people who work with newcomers.

Overall, about one-quarter of Calgary's population was born outside of Canada, according to a Statistics Canada report released Tuesday. About 58,000 immigrants settled in the city between 2001 and 2006.

Immigrants from China, India, the Philippines and Pakistan led the influx, and many newcomers don't speak English, said the report.

Calgary is desperate for the new arrivals to move quickly into the labour force, but many need to improve their English skills and find an affordable place to live first, said Fariborz Birjandian of the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society.

Those needs mean the number of people looking for help from the non-profit group has skyrocketed.

"We see about 300 per cent increase in the past six years," said Birjandian.

There's a six-month waiting list to get into a basic English as a second language class in Calgary, said Hieu Van Ngo of the Coalition for Equal Access to Education, which helps immigrants improve their education.

'We have to look at the way we invest in our community.' Hieu Van Ngo, Coalition for Equal Access to Education

He said one in five Calgarians need ESL classes but there's a limited number of higher-level English classes available once newcomers finish the basic courses.

There needs to be proper funding of the programs immigrants need, as well as a shift in the way Calgarians view newcomers, said Ngo.

"We cannot continue to look at the issues as 'These people rely on our system for support.' We have to look at the way we invest in our community."