Canada is known as a cultural mosaic, a home to immigrants from all parts of the world. The GTA alone is home to nearly 36% of Canada’s immigrants. Although this is the case, the barriers that exist for Canada’s newcomers and immigrants are far too many. Language barriers, in particular, prevent many immigrants and newcomers from accessing the services they need. We believe in accessible and equitable services for all members of the community.
RivInt is a social enterprise agency that is managed by the Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women. This agency was originally created in January 2000 to train newcomers and new immigrants as professional interpreters. This was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration and the South Riverdale Community Health Centre.
RivInt began by advocating for quality health care for newcomers by providing interpretation and translating services for patients who did not share a common language with their health care provider.
Since then, this agency has evolved to provide accessible interpretation and translating services to service users in various different fields in addition to health care to bridge the language gap between service providers and service users. Through the services we provide, we aim to empower immigrant and newcomer community members by lessening the language barriers that currently exist.