With touching videos and messages pouring out in the wake of the arrival of the first Syrian refugees in Toronto, the BC government is readying programs for when our turn comes along.
The province has pledged $109,355 for English language training in PG ahead of the arrival of privately-sponsored Syrian Refugees.
The Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society of Prince George will provide the training to help ease the transition of refugees, and increase their employability- which Minister of Jobs Shirley Bond says will be vital when looking at BC’s future workforce demands.
“They come to our country as professionals, as people who have a skill set, have incredible talent, but it takes a while to have their credentials recognized, to find a way to continue those careers they had in other countries.”
“Language can be a barrier to employment and we need to maximize the skills of immigrants who are already in our province,” Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris said. “English language training is essential to opening doors to better employment opportunities and making their new life in Canada successful.”
And while the funding is rather timely, it isn’t solely geared towards Syrian refugees.
“There is lots of attention, and rightly so, on the arrival of Syrian refugees,” added Bond. “We receive refugees in British Columbia every year, and we also welcome thousands of immigrants who need to learn about our province, about our country… So the work that’s done here goes on all year long.”
Heading up those efforts is IMSS executive director Baljit Sethi, who was all smiles during the Friday-morning announcement.
“We have some community members from Syria, and they are very much involved with our agency. One of our doctors is Syrian, and he’s a board member of our agency! So we have a very good network with the community, and between our President and the Muslim community in Prince George, there are a lot of people who speak the language. We all work as a team.”
5 privately sponsored refugees will be coming to PG, though the number of government-assisted refugees is still up in the air.
Bond says the province did an analysis to see which cities could house new Canadians.
“We looked at cities like Prince George, Kelowna, Kamloops, and others to asses their capacity to welcome government-assisted refugees. Ultimately, the federal government partnership with IMSSof BC will look at capacity and determine where refugees will finally settle. Prince George is certainly on that list, because we have a mosque, we have an arabic-speaking community, we have health services… So it’s very possible we’ll receive refugees, not likely in enormous numbers.”
$2.6 million is being distributed throughout BC to help roughly 1,200 newcomers gain skills for jobs.
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