Cochrane Immigrant Services

Our Vision

We envision Cochrane as becoming a place where more and more:

All immigrants and newcomers are welcomed, engaged and can be actively involved in all aspects of community life in Cochrane and area.
Everyone has access to, and knowledge of the services needed in order to pursue their goals.

Our Mission

In pursuit of this vision, the purpose of this group is to form an ongoing partnership with new immigrants and newcomers to Cochrane and Area, organizations that serve this population, and community volunteers in order to:

Educate the wider community to the cultural diversity that exists in Cochrane and area
Advocate for services and funding to meet the identified needs
Collaborate with newcomers, service groups and volunteers to solve problems around gaps in services
Accumulate more data, or advocate for others to collect data, which identifies needs related to immigrants and newcomers
Communicate information about the needs of immigrants and newcomers to other organizations and committees in order that they may better serve this population
Celebrate diversity through events and activities, and invite immigrants and newcomers to get involved

About Us

The Cochrane Immigrant Services Committee (CISC) supports the inclusion of newcomers to Canada and our community, as well as a celebration of heritage for all Albertans, newly arrived or settled here for generations. Our CISC is excited about celebrating our multicultural community all year long.

February 2020 CISC voted in a Board of volunteers and has recently applied for Society status. Our CISC membership is composed of community volunteers (many from a variety of cultural backgrounds and cultures). and members from many service organizations that service newcomers. These services organizations meet as an advisory committee and include Rockyview Immigrant Services (RVIS), Helping Hands Society of Cochrane & Area, local faith community, and educational institutions. We hold an annual Citizenship Ceremony, Christmas Day Celebration, Newcomer Welcoming events, and participate in the local Food Drives and Community Cleanups. In 2019, we held our 1st annual CultureFest celebration that highlighted 18 cultural performances and 16 interactive learning opportunities. It was held in conjunction with National Culture Days. This year we have created a COVID-19 safe event called the Amazing Cochrane Culture Hunt to be held in conjunction with National Culture Days and will highlight 6-10 cultures.

As a group we are a committee to help newcomers to our lovely community to get connected to local resources to help them feel like they belong and are welcomed into Cochrane. We are always accepting new members and volunteers. Please contact us, if you are interested.