The Moose Jaw Multicultural Council is looking for residents who want to form one-on-one connections with newcomers to the city.

A new program called Connect will pair newcomers with local residents who can help them become more acquainted with the city, and help form new friendships.

Community Connections Coordinator with the Multicultural Centre Tyler Bastedo

"The purpose is to connect newcomers to Moose Javians in the community. We're really hoping with the Connect program to get the more personal connections formed; the one on one matches, maybe family to family to help out some newcomers become more established and make those essential bonds that are really hard to make in a new community."

What you and your match do are completely up to you says Bastedo. After each month both you and your match will report back to someone within the Multicultural Centre and share what you've done and how the meetings have gone.

"Its essentially up to the matches and what sort of interests they share, things they want to do. It can be anything as simple as sitting down and having a coffee, having a chat and practicing English, going for a walk around your neighbourhood maybe showing them some areas around town they didn't know about. Or even helping out with daily tasks like going for groceries together."

There will be an information session held for those interested on Wednesday at the Newcomer Welcome Centre. You're asked to arrive at 7, where all details will be discussed and they can answer any questions you may have.

Bastedo goes on to let residents know that if you do want to sign up, it will only require a few hours of your time per month.

"Not a lot of people know that this is something that's available to be able to meet one on one with a newcomer, if that's something you're interested in this is the perfect place to come. There is a minimum monthly commitment, its 4 hours volunteer time spent with your match per month, it can be all done in one session, you can spread it out through a couple of times a month, or you can meet more than that."