Saamis Immigration Services Association

The existence of SISA was the result of a gap in settlement services for newcomers to Medicine Hat in 1988. In an effort to fill this gap, a board of 12 like-minded individuals came together to make a positive change in the integration of newcomers to the City. The Board originally secured federal funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and provincial funding from the Alberta Economic Development and Trade Ministry to support the proposed settlement services and programs. The agency began as a dedicated staff of one who provided settlement services to newcomers and developed partnerships within the community in order to serve these clients more effectively.

Due to growth in services, in 1990 SISA found a new home on Dunmore Road where the agency grew to a staff of 5 individuals who were able to provide improved and increased settlement services to newcomers. After the staff expansion, the agency moved again to the Flat Iron building across from Alexandra Middle School in 1993.

In 1995, as a result of the economic downturn and resulting funding cuts, SISA moved again to Prospect Drive SW where they also began offering full-time English classes through the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program. Due to the success of this new program, in 1995 SISA had outgrown the space they were in and moved once again to 12 St NE, where it remained for the next 16 years.

The introduction and growth of the Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) program, the agency acquired a secondary location for services in 2009, downtown on 3rd St SE. In 2011, the search began to house all departments into one location to increase convenience and serviceability to clients. Following some construction at the 3rd St SE location, the entire agency was able to move into the downtown location in 2013. Since then, a second building a few doors down from the office building was procured in order to expand the classroom services for LINC and centralize the office as a workspace for all departments.