Tourism HR Canada staff met with representatives from World University Service of Canada (WUSC) last week to learn more about WUSC’s Pathways to Employment for Refugees program. The two organizations discussed potential synergies with Tourism HR Canada’s Destination Employment program, which focuses on providing training and job opportunities to newcomers to Canada. Both programs are funded through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
While the focus of each program is different, there are many similarities, leading to opportunities for the two initiatives to benefit from working collaboratively.
The Pathways to Employment for Refugees pilot is a new initiative being implemented in partnership with Camosun College and WUSC. The pilot will build on WUSC’s experience with the Student Refugee Program and Camosun College’s experience delivering employment skills training in Kenya and Canada.
The pilot aims to:
- Engage private sector and community partners to strengthen understandings of refugee settlement challenges such as access to employment
- Build the capacity of employers to offer employment opportunities to resettled refugees
- Facilitate the involvement of private sector and community partners in refugee sponsorship
- Increase the preparedness of resettled refugees through sector-specific job skills training, pre- and post-arrival
Early discussions with WUSC have also identified opportunities to further pilot training assets developed for Destination Employment, in order to grow user feedback. This will support efforts to continually update and enhance the training resources associated with Destination Employment to ensure they are meeting the needs of participants.
Jon Kiely, Vice President of Product Innovation for Tourism HR Canada, will sit on WUSC’s Project Advisory Committee as a proxy for Destination Employment lead Stacie Travers, who is currently on parental leave.