Hiring initiative in Pictou County hailed as a milestone among global community
NEW GLASGOW, N.S. — A pilot project being tested in Pictou County may provide a solution to Nova Scotia’s skilled labour shortage. “It’s important to be as creative as we can,” said Lisa Smith, CEO of Glen Haven Manor, a long-term care facility in New Glasgow which is home to more than 200 residents. “Our current staff are working a lot of extra hours because we need more CCAs” said Smith. Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) are the first point of care for seniors living in homes like Glen Haven. “We can make that work in the short term, but we can’t sustain that in the long term.” There are 25 to 30 CCA positions to be filled. According to recent numbers from the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness, there are 294 CCA positions across the province that need to be filled. In collaboration with the Pictou County Regional Enterprise Network (PCREN), and international non-profits serving at-risk refugees, Glen Haven is looking at a new solution to remedy the situation. Essentially, it involves connecting skilled refugees with the kinds of traditional immigration pathways afforded to people looking for work in other countries. “If you or I were thinking of immigrating, we would have everything we need. But if (it’s) a refugee who has had to flee their home country, then it’s likely they might not even have a valid travel document with them,” said Simar Singh, senior programs manager with Kenya-based NGO, Refuge Point. “They’re essentially living in limbo, where they don’t have full rights in the country of asylum; they’re usually not allowed to work legally so there’s no pathways for them to support themselves or their families.” Globally, there are 25.9 million people that have fled their home countries because of persecution, war and violence. They live as registered refugees. The UN estimates approximately four per cent of refugees are able to access resettlement solutions. “The current pathways are important, but not adequate,” said Singh. In April 2019, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada started discussing ways to break down barriers between skilled refugees and those current immigration pathways. The Economic Mobility Pathways Project was created as a research project to test whether qualified refugees could be matched with employers facing labour shortages. EMPP, a project administered by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and its partners, including Refuge Point, the United Nations Refugee Agency and four other Canadian provinces and territories, has already matched skilled refugees with employers in Ontario. Pictou County’s involvement with the EMPP is unique, however, because it marks the first time the project will be tested to see if it can fill labour gaps affecting large areas of rural Nova Scotia. “What we’re interested in is the next step. Are there particular sectors, who are in need of particular employees,” explained Michael Casasola, senior resettlement officer with the UNHCR. “We’re really trying to do a new thing, because if we can take it from those individual oneoff cases, then this is what we’ll need to take it to the next level.” From a local economic perspective, Sarah MacIntosh-Wiseman, CEO of the PCREN, says the move is beneficial for all involved. “It will benefit employers who are struggling to fill chronic labour market shortages, it will benefit our community that needs more people working in those sectors where the gaps are, and it will provide a benefit to people who don’t have opportunities that match he skills they have available to give. “So, if it works the way we hope it does, it will be a win, win, win.” Once in Pictou, local partners like Pictou County Safe Harbour will have a role to play in supporting newcomers during a time of readjustment. And those arrivals may be here soon. Already Glen Haven Manor has made 15 conditional offers to people currently living in Kenya and the Middle East. After successful completion of Canada’s immigration process, these candidates will be the first economic immigrants to come to Pictou County through the EMPP.