Vivre en Gaspésie expands its services for the English-speaking community of Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine

4 December 2023

Vivre en Gaspésie is officially launching a new service to support the English-speaking communities of Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine. This service joins the various services already offered by Vivre en Gaspésie and will operate under the name “ Living in Gaspésie ”. This new service aims to strengthen the regional dynamic by also representing the region’s English-speaking community. This initiative is part of a strategic partnership with three local organisations: Committee for Anglophone Social Action (CASA), Council for Anglophone Magdalen Islanders (CAMI), and Vision Gaspé-Percé Now (VGPN). Thanks to this partnership, Vivre en Gaspésie will now be able to work with the English-speaking communities of Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine on population retention within these communities and targeted attraction efforts aimed at English-speaking and bilingual individuals. This project was made possible thanks to financial support from the Fonds régional en développement social (FRDS).  

“Having an English-speaking resource will enable us to adapt our various actions in the area and better meet the needs of this clientele. English-speaking communities are part of Gaspésie and are just as important to us. They alone account for 10% of the population in Gaspésie,” says Danik O’connor, Stratégie Vivre en Gaspésie general manager.

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“This collaboration with Vivre en Gaspésie will help to increase our outreach to members of the English-speaking community. Vision Gaspé-Percé Now is looking forward to working with Vivre en Gaspésie on this, and future, projects.” adds Jessica Synnott, Executive Director of Vision Gaspé-Percé Now.

 

Adapting services to this clientele

As well as offering personalised welcome and integration support to this population, the Vivre en Gaspésie team will be working with the region’s English-language schools to help foster young people’s sense of belonging to the region. .

“We truly aim to build a relationship with the English-speaking communities, which is why we have created new pages on social media under the name “Living In Gaspésie” to offer specific content to the English-speakers. A newsletter will also be dedicated to them,” adds Marianne Corriveau-Avard, Communication and attraction agent for Stratégie Vivre en Gaspésie.

  The English-language services offered by Vivre en Gaspésie notably include:

• A website translated and adapted for this clientele;
• New social media pages under the name “Living in Gaspésie” (Facebook and Instagram);
• Job postings in English for local employers;
• Educational and participatory workshops adapted in English to help young people find out about employment and life opportunities in Gaspésie;
• A new unilingual English monthly newsletter; and
• Integration of English into the content and activities of Gaspesian Day.

  Vivre en Gaspésie aims to facilitate the integration of Anglophones and strengthen the diverse social fabric.