Ukrainian newcomers take food handler’s course in own language – Winnipeg | 24CA News

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress and an area church are serving to put together Ukrainian newcomers for work in Manitoba by providing a low-barrier meals handler’s course in Ukrainian.

Around 115 Ukrainian newcomers took the day-long course, held within the basement of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral. It’s the third time the course has been provided previously yr, and based on Ukrainian Canadian Congress board member Michelle Kowalchuk, demand for the course is excessive.

“Within about two hours, it was half filled,” she stated. “By the time I woke up the next morning, we had 130 people signed up.”

Kowalchuk stated the course supplies have been translated from English to Ukrainian by a Ukrainian newcomer who arrived in Winnipeg a number of months in the past. It is obtainable at no cost, as lots of the college students got here to Canada with little cash and a low degree of English.

“We know there’s lots of people who need this training in order to get employment, and often people are coming into entry level jobs,” Kowalchuk stated. “For them to have to pay for training, it’s a huge barrier.”

The course is taught by a registered dietician with a Ukrainian translator, and the provincial examination can also be in Ukrainian. Lunch can also be served mid-day freed from cost.

Some college students, like Lina Frank, have by no means labored in meals service earlier than. Frank labored at a financial institution in Kyiv earlier than coming to Winnipeg six months in the past.

“I want to know the law in Manitoba, about food, food handling, cooking,” she stated. “How to work with food.”

Others, like Yurii Yatskiv and Ohleh Durda, have years of expertise. They labored collectively as sushi cooks in Ukraine and Poland. Within every week of being in Winnipeg, they’d discovered jobs at an area sushi joint, which prompted them to take the meals dealing with course.

“We just showed what we were able to do, and we were hired immediately,” Yatskiv informed Global News by means of a translator.

According to the province’s web site, not everybody who works in a restaurant wants to finish meals handler coaching, however relying on the variety of employees, institutions should have no less than one licensed handler on shift or on their roster. The province additionally requires the operator of the institution to have efficiently accomplished coaching.

Mark Myrowich is the CEO of Myrowich Staffing Agency, which focuses on hiring Ukrainian newcomers. He says that connecting expert employees to their industries in Manitoba is usually a problem, and that certifications just like the meals handler’s course will help folks get their foot within the door.

“I’ve heard many that have said, ‘We’ve given out our resumes to 200 different places, and nobody has taken us,’” Myrowich stated. “They’re frustrated by that.”

Those who move the examination will be capable of add “Certified Food Handler” to their resume. And some might take their foodservice careers additional and go into business for themselves.

“We would like to enhance our knowledge here, improve our skills,” stated Yatskiv, “and in the future potentially open our own sushi restaurant.”

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