B.C. launches translated sites for newcomers

Meant to attract skilled workers in five languages

British Columbia has launched five new foreign language micro-websites to attract skilled foreign workers. The sites operate through WelcomeBC.ca, a one-stop source for people considering moving to B.C. and for those who have recently arrived.

“Bringing skilled workers from other countries is important for B.C. to help fill the over one million jobs we’ll have available by 2019,” said Minister of Regional Economic and Skills Development Ida Chong. “The new translated WelcomeBC micro-sites are a first in Canada and they will allow both prospective and recent immigrants to find all the important information about coming to B.C.”

The micro-sites are offered in Korean, Punjabi, Spanish, French and Chinese. They are formatted to best serve prospective and recent immigrants. For example, the Korean micro-site is more text-heavy than a typical North American site and uses a mixture of South Korean text and English pronouns, said the provincial government.

“We must continue to offer settlement information in the way that best serves the foreign skilled-worker audience in order to continue to attract the best and the brightest to British Columbia,” said Chong. “Skilled immigrants are much more likely to access and benefit from this information when it is available in their own language and in a format familiar to them.”

The micro-sites also use geo-targeting, which means WelcomeBC.ca can detect if a visitor is using an IP address from another country and then use that information to automatically redirect them to the relevant micro-site.

To view the micro-sites, please visit the links below:

France: http://www.welcomebc.ca/destinationcb

South Korea: http://immigration.welcomebc.ca/canada_kr/index.page

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