New city guide offers help for migrants

22 July 2005

Making a move to Christchurch, whether from overseas or elsewhere in New Zealand, is now even easier thanks to the launch of a new free guide to the city for migrants.

Christchurch City Council has teamed up with community and migrant groups to produce ‘New to Christchurch?’, a 20 page brochure offering advice and tips to make settling into life in the Garden City easier.

The guide was developed following suggestions from people recently settled in the city who felt that more information could be provided to help make the move to a new city and country less stressful. After the initial publication in English, plans are in place to offer the guide in other languages, starting with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Arabic.

Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore says we’re a nation of migrants, so it’s fitting that the city does all it can to help new migrants feel at home: “The North and South islands of New Zealand were the last two large islands in the world to be occupied by people, so everyone in Aotearoa is descended from a migrant or is a migrant themselves.”

Available both as a printed booklet, and online at the Council’s website www.ccc.govt.nz/migrants, the guide covers all the main needs of new arrivals to the city, from transport to tax, housing to health, and shopping to schooling.

Copies of the guide will be available from Monday 1 August from Council offices and Service Centres, Christchurch City Libraries, the Refugee and Migrant Centre, Citizens Advice Bureaux, and from Migrant organisations.

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