Multicultural association helps immigrants to enter workforce

By ALEXANDRA DAVIS
For The Daily Gleaner

Aifang Pan says she was able to develop the workforce skills she needed to land a full-time job through a program offered by the Multicultural Association of Fredericton.

ENLARGE PHOTO

FOR THE DAILY GLEANER/Alexandra

A night to celebrate: Above, from left, are: Real Robichaud, executive director of the Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick; Chantal Poitras, operation assistant with TIANB; Catherine McPhee, education resource co-ordinator for TIANB; Aifang Pan, a new employee of TIANB; Sheila Atkinson, operations and programs manager for TIANB; and Bonnie Doughty, employment co-ordinator for the Multicultural Association of Fredericton. They attended the multicultural association's employer appreciation night recently. TIANB was recognized in the small and medium business category for its diverse hiring practices and unique training program.

Recently, Pan was one of 10 immigrants who graduated from the association's New Brunswick Employment Language Training class at the New Maryland Centre.

Pan and her husband moved to Fredericton eight years ago so her husband could take a job with the University of New Brunswick.

Recently, she said, she decided she wanted to enter the workforce.

"My kids were born here and for the past few years I've been at home with them," she said. "Now my kids are a bit bigger so I can come out and start to work."

The employment language training program focuses on providing immigrants with computer skills, employment readiness training - which includes practising networking and giving presentations - and language training.

After the 16-week-long program, participants enter into a work placement, which normally runs for at least a few months and can lead to full-time employment.

Pan said her work with the program has already paid off.

"It's a very nice program; I really appreciate it," she said. "I have learned a lot from my NBELT class. I've started to create my portfolio and I have improved my English a lot. Now I have a full-time position."

She said she's now working with the Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick, the same organization she was paired with for her work placement.

Bonnie Doughty, employment co-ordinator for the multicultural association, said the training program is a valuable tool for newcomers to Canada.

"The program addresses the barriers that our clients face when trying to enter the workforce," she said. "Those barriers include no references or work experience, a lack of understanding of Canadian culture, a lack of understanding of workforce expectations and, of course, language."

She said programs such as this are important as they play a role in attracting immigrants.

"I think when newcomers look to go anywhere in Canada, they want to know if there are services there for them, and in a smaller community they may not have them," she said. "In bigger areas there are lots of classes, but there are also lots of immigrants, so you might have to wait a long time to get in. I think having this class in Fredericton is very important."

Wednesday was also the Multicultural Association of Fredericton's third annual employer appreciation night, to recognize organizations and individuals that support diversity in the workplace.

Alex Scholten won the community support award, Caris won the large business award and the Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick received the award for small and medium business.

Sheila Atkinson, operations and programs manager for the tourism industry association, said the organization provides a program that's tailored toward newcomers, called the ready-to-work program.

"It's comprehensive essential skills training for those entering the workforce, specifically in tourism," she said. "The program fits perfectly with the multicultural association's NBELT program and it seems the outcome is tremendous."

Real Robichaud, executive director of the association, said that with a little training, immigrants add a lot to New Brunswick's workforce.

"Programs like these help the tourism industry by helping us find the people we need," he said. "Not only do they bring skills from their own countries, but they also have excellent work ethics and bring a great cultural background."

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Panel ponders how to strengthen region's economy

Image via WikipediaThe economic future of Atlantic Canada may depend on developing a brand, according to the president of the University of Prince Edward Island.
"That question of brand is really critical," Wade MacLauchlan said during a panel discussion in St. Andrews on Friday. "It takes us to the question of how do we think about ourselves and what our expectations are, and what we think we have that is a basis for having competitive excellence in the world."
The P.E.I. mussels are one brand that has worked for the region, said MacLauchlan during a discussion on the economic future of Atlantic Canada. The session was part of a three-day Ideas Festival conference, hosted by the Fredericton-based 21inc. and Ottawa's Public Policy Forum.
MacLauchlan noted that P.E.I. mussels show up on menus across the world, and food could be a potential area where the region can achieve global excellence.
"The good news is that we already have global players here that are showing us how to do that," said MacLauchlan, referring to the international success of the region's food companies such as McCain Foods Ltd. and Oxford Frozen Foods.
The economic future of Atlantic Canada could also lie in increasing the international export of food, said Karen Oldfield, the president and CEO of the Halifax Port Authority.
During the panel, Oldfield told the audience of a pilot project recently completed by her port.
In collaboration with CN Rail and a Montreal-based container company, the port authority transported grains products from Saskatchewan to Halifax, and then shipped that grain to overseas markets looking for Canadian goods. With Atlantic provinces now growing plenty of crops, such systems can allow for the export of these products to the world.
"This is a true Atlantic success story - we are taking soybean product from P.E.I., we are taking soybean product from Nova Scotia, and we are creating a whole new market for a whole new product. It's going to be one of the products for the future - food."
During the session, Oldfield also touched upon the immigration, and the need for Atlantic Canada to create a more welcoming environment for immigrants. She said Atlantic Canada is not doing enough to integrate immigrants into communities.
"It's easier to be a global business when you can draw upon the experience of your own workforce to help you to understand a particular market or culture," said Oldfield, speaking to the value of employees coming from abroad.
While the panel focused on the future of the region, Monique Collette, the senior advisor to the privy council office in Ottawa, spoke to the past success of the region.
Collette said one of the assets of Atlantic Canada is the ability of the region to bounce back. While Ontario continues to struggle with the breakdown of the manufacturing industry, Collette noted that Atlantic Canada is doing relatively well in recovering from the recession.
"We are a very resilient people, and resiliency is not given to everybody," Collette said.

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Chinese immigrants set up business

Image via Wikipedia By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN


Wang Zhu and Jie Yu of Shanghai, China, came to Fredericton two years ago on skilled-worker permits and found employment as cooks in a local restaurant.

Enlarge Photo

Stephen MacGillivray photo

Jie Yu, left, and Wang Zhu are shown inside the new Panda restaurant at the City Motel. They became landed immigrants through the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program.

Now the two professionally training chefs are landed immigrants in Canada and opening their own restaurant here.
They're the kind of immigrant entrepreneurs the capital needs, said Susan Holt, president of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce.
"Immigrant entrepreneurs are extremely important for Fredericton," she said Thursday at the Panda restaurant's pre-opening special at the City Motel at 1216 Regent St. for local business development experts and guests.
"Our demographics show that our population isn't growing itself.
"The way for New Brunswick and Fredericton to succeed is to attract these immigrants and then help them be successful."
The chamber operates an immigrant entrepreneur mentorship program that helps new businessmen such as Zhu and Yu learn the business ropes in this city.
The mentorship program is two years old and there are 16 people in the program, including Zhu and Yu. There were 10 businesses in the program last year.
"We've had conversations with the owners here and they've gotten off to a great start already," said Holt.
"Doing business in Canada is different from doing business in other parts of the world."
Chamber mentors will help the new restaurant owners with marketing and getting familiar with the local customer base, she said.
Holt said the goal is to grow the market for everyone.
"As our population grows, as we get more immigrants here, I think there are lots of opportunities for everyone to be successful," she said.
"Those who take up the challenge and start their own business are really contributing to the Fredericton economy and that is why the chamber executes the business immigrant mentorship program to help them be successful here so that we can really reap the benefit of their presence."
Yu said he was happy to be opening a restaurant in Fredericton and thanked everyone for coming Thursday.
"I think this is a beautiful city," he said.
"I really like it here."
Speaking through an interpreter, he said he learned about Fredericton through an immigration consultant in China that was promoting the capital.
With a population of 19 million, Shanghai is a lot bigger than Fredericton.
Yu said Fredericton is clean and friendly. His wife and daughter have visited him and applied to immigrate here. They have returned to China for now because his wife is a teacher there.
Lei Wang, an international student at the University of New Brunswick, is co-owner of the restaurant and said the restaurant will be offering authentic Chinese food.
He said the restaurant will specialize in dim sum, a Cantonese dish that usually includes steamed buns, dumplings and rice noodle rolls containing ingredients such as beef, chicken, pork, prawns and vegetables.
"I think a lot of people, a lot of Canadian, are going to like it," he said.
New Brunswick Finance Minister and former minister responsible for the Population Growth Secretariat Greg Byrne also dropped by the restaurant pre-opening to offer his well wishes.
"The business entrepreneur program is a great program of the Population Growth Secretariat," he said.
"It is certainly one of our priorities as government to bring people to New Brunswick, to tell people what New Brunswick has to offer."
He said Zhu and Yu have received many awards for their work as chefs and are well positioned to be successful here.
"We are proud that you choose Fredericton as a place to operate a business and that you choose New Brunswick as a place to live," said Byrne.

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