By Stephanie Mancini
Published in September 2016
So often, global turmoil happens at a distance. This year we have shared in the collective experience of welcoming Syrian refugees to our community – or as they really are, Arabic speaking New Canadians – people who have physically journeyed through the turmoil, war and displacement of the Middle East and have come to our community to become our neighbours.
As a community we have risen to the challenge, welcoming 1,275 new members of the Kitchener Waterloo community, providing housing, navigational supports, hospitality and friendship. A further 560 Syrians will join our community in the next few months. But now the need is to help people to find work, as many families enter month 13, when their funded support comes to an end.
At The Working Centre we have seen a significant impact from the Arabic speaking New Canadians. Initially this was because we have supported the work of ShamRose for Syrian Culture; a small non-profit group locally who offer peer based welcome and problem-solving supports for Arabic speaking people. ShamRose has done a good job making people feel welcome; since January they have registered 749 newcomers, which includes 493 Government Assisted Refugees (with the rest being privately sponsored). They have built a place of trust and welcome – a great refuge after people have travelled so far and experienced so much turmoil.
Working Centre has also received a Job Creation Partnership Project, to hire 4 Arabic/English speaking Transition Assistants (TA’s). This is a community resource – these TA’s go out to the community to support the newcomers as they meet with service providers, helping those with very low English levels to meet and discuss options and resources. The TA’s have supported over 800 appointments and information sessions – offering translation and cultural understanding.
We have also been offering Job Searching in Canada information sessions, in collaboration with our local employment providers. We have met one-on-one with about 100 people who are searching for work. We have offered youth job search workshops over the summer, and continue to support adults and youth who are looking for work.
Challenge of Finding Employment
Our new neighbours face many challenges; many of them have work experience as general labourers, often with a Grade 12 education or less, and have very low English language levels. Though English learning is a high priority, this is a group who will best learn English through an applied work setting instead of the classroom environment. When general labouring jobs are declining, how do we make room for this group?
For these new Canadians, work is not just putting food on the table and feeding one’s family. Many in this group are in their 40’s, just building their life before it was torn apart by war. Work is an expression of dignity, honour, and self-fulfillment. Self-esteem is closely tied to one’s ability to contribute and be useful in community. This group has spent an extended period of time waiting, journeying, and now they have found a new homeland. There is an eagerness to begin this new life, trying to learn this new language in spite of the fog that comes with grief, trauma and change that is not chosen.
Employers are increasingly being challenged to respond to the health and safety needs of their workforce – legislation around these issues continues to tighten and be more defined. And we don’t want to see vulnerable workers injured on unsafe worksites. Is there a way to channel the good will of local, responsible employers who would be willing to hire Arabic speaking newcomers, while also supporting the workplace safety and integration needs of the workers?
At The Working Centre we have been grappling with these questions, balancing opportunity with responsibility, creatively thinking of ways to do thing differently – practically responding to the challenges around us. We have patiently hammered out a strategy that we can think can work, but which will involve extensive community good will to succeed.
Work Placements
We are inviting local employers to help us to create Canadian work experience for this group, welcoming one (or ten) workers at a time into their workplace. Create a job, adapt a job, or customize a job to help workers to learn on the job while they earn income to support their family. These work placements can be for 4-6 months or longer – helping to offer a first Canadian work experience in a supportive environment.
We are building a strategy to support employers who are willing to step up to this challenge. We hope to provide Arabic/English supports to:
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Provide pre-employment workshops and workplace tours that help train workers in employment standards and workplace safety issues, including safe food handling.
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Strengthen workplace language skills.
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Offer assistance with interviews for employers to meet with Arabic speaking newcomers.
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Accompany the person to the first day (or two) of work to help build awareness of workplace tasks and workplace safety issues.
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Offer a 24/7 phone line to offer communication assistance when day-to-day workplace communication is challenging.
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Meet regularly with employers/employees to help strengthen and improve the workplace relationship as required.
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Provide a job coaching role – help to review and understand the employee’s role, build the workplace language vocabulary that will strengthen communication, encourage a workplace mentor who will support this new employee, support and problem-solve issues with the new employee as they build understanding of Canadian workplace expectations.
Are you an employer willing to talk further about how to provide work for one or more Arabic speaking newcomers? We are interested in talking more about what is possible, what might work, as we respond creatively to this next stage of welcome for refugees in our community.
We look forward to hearing your ideas. We have some hiring incentives that can be leveraged in some situations. We are mostly interested in hearing about creative ideas that welcome this group into full community through work opportunities.
