Employers seeking ‘very specific’ skillset recruit refugee workers under pilot project – National | 24CA News
Mulham Alkhalil has been working for a high-end furnishings producer in Toronto since arriving in Canada final 12 months from Syria through Libya.
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The 40-year-old, whose job includes working a computer-assisted furnishings chopping and engraving machine, fled Syria in 2012 as a result of he didn’t wish to get entangled within the nation’s ongoing struggle by being drafted to obligatory navy service.
He first went to Libya however mentioned he wasn’t capable of finding long-term stability there after that nation’s civil struggle escalated. In 2019, he determined to hunt refuge elsewhere along with his spouse and three kids.
Alkhalil was in a position to safe a job and transfer to Canada along with his household final May because of a pilot program the federal authorities has expanded to supply refugees with a pathway to resettlement based mostly on their job abilities.
“It’s like starting a new life,” he mentioned in a telephone interview. “My children now go to school, learn English and engage in social activities … life is stable here.”
Canada launched the pilot undertaking in 2018 to herald 10 to fifteen expert refugees. It was prolonged for 2 extra years in 2020 to confess as much as 500 candidates and as of final October, greater than 100 expert refugees and their members of the family had arrived below this system.
In December, the Immigration Department mentioned it will work with employers to increase this system to welcome 2,000 expert refugees to fill particular labour shortages in high-demand sectors, together with well being care, expert trades and data know-how.
Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser mentioned that month that Ottawa would supply $6.2 million to assist organizations serving to refugees apply to return to Canada as expert staff.
Khoder El-Dassouki, the proprietor of Emanuele Furniture Design, mentioned Alkhalil was the second worker he employed below the pilot program for expert refugees.
“We cannot find the skilled labour that we’re requiring here in Canada,” he mentioned. “We’ve been searching and we’ve been putting ads all over the country and we’re just not getting the right candidates.”
El-Dassouki, who has had his high-end customized millwork cupboards business for 35 years, mentioned expert staff are important for his firm.
“We’re very specific on the quality and the finesse of the products,” he mentioned.
The pilot program — formally referred to as the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot — permits non-profit organizations which can be partnering with the federal government to assist expert refugees abroad join with employers to use for a job.
After candidates obtain a job provide, they’ll apply to immigrate to Canada via current financial applications utilizing the pilot program.
El-Dassouki mentioned it took greater than a 12 months to course of the functions of the 2 workers who joined his firm below the pilot program.
“The duration of the application is way too long,” he mentioned. “When we have an application, we wish to have somebody here anywhere between three to six months.”
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Dana Wagner, co-founder and managing director of TalentLift Canada, a non-profit that helped Alkhalil, mentioned refugees are historically in a position to transfer to Canada and different protected nations via humanitarian resettlement applications however these have restricted capability in comparison with the excessive variety of refugees looking for resettlement.
The pilot program permits individuals who occur to be refugees and have abilities which can be in demand within the job market to immigrate to Canada below current expert immigration pathways, she mentioned.
“The reason that we needed (this pilot program) was because skilled visa pathways were not built for people in refugee circumstances,” she mentioned.
“Traditionally, all of Canada’s skilled immigration pathways have required a valid passport to apply. That has nothing to do with your education level, your work experience.”
The pilot started to alter some necessities that had been obstacles stopping refugees from making use of to return to Canada as expert staff, together with documentary and monetary obstacles.
“If you have an expired passport from Afghanistan or Syria before (the pilot) you just were not eligible, period,” Wagner mentioned.
“Globally, humanitarian resettlement still only supports such a small number (of refugees).”
A spokesperson for the federal Immigration Department mentioned the pilot undertaking goals to handle labour shortages whereas offering options for refugees who’ve the talents and {qualifications} Canadian employers want.
“It is an innovative way to welcome more refugees and their families to Canada, while also helping employers fill critical labour shortages,” Michelle Carbert wrote in a press release.
The authorities is fine-tuning the pilot to make sure it’s assembly the wants of candidates, employers and non-governmental organizations, Carbert mentioned.
“We will continue to work with our partners to look at more ways to make it easier for employers to bring skilled refugees and their families to Canada as economic immigrants,” Carbert mentioned.
The United Nations estimates the variety of refugees in want of resettlement will enhance to greater than two million this 12 months, up from 1.47 million in 2022, which represents a 36 per cent enhance.
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