Go west, young Jew: Hamilton, London and Windsor are growing their numbers with people priced out of Toronto

Three leaders of Federations across Ontario. From left: Rob Nagus of London, Gustavo Rymberg of Hamilton and Dan Brotman of Windsor.

Subscribe to (opens a new window)

Many Jewish immigrants, when arriving in Canada, choose to settle in the Toronto area. But Toronto is prohibitively expensive for many people, and newcomers face even more hurdles involving work visas, new schools and social connections on top of the financial stress.

That’s where the Welcome Home project comes in. The brainchild of three mid-sized Jewish communities in Ontario—Hamilton, London and Windsor—the project aims to lure immigrant Jewish families, or long-time Torontonians priced out of the housing market, to join their relatively-small-but-mighty communities down the Highway 401.

Local federations are pitching in, promising to make connections and help cover some of the moving costs. It’s in their interest to see local numbers grow, since all three communities have been in decline for some time. To discuss the context and how Welcome Home could be the solution, we’re joined by all three Federation CEOs: Gustavo Rymberg of Hamilton, Rob Nagus of London and Dan Brotman of Windsor.

What we talked about:

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.