Cape Breton Post

On the job

Program aims to get underrepre­sented groups into workplace

- BY NANCY KING

Cregg Battiste no longer has to leave his young family and travel out West to work.

The 25-year-old Eskasoni resident, a welder and pipefitter by trade, has found work locally with Marine Recycling Corp. in Sydport through the New Opportunit­ies for Work program. The program was co-developed last year by the Centre for Employment Innovation with St. Francis Xavier University and community partners, on behalf of the provincial government. It has a goal of helping to connect people from underrepre­sented groups to jobs in their field. It requires an employer pay a minimum salary of $15 an hour and they are eligible for a wage subsidy of up to $10.50 an hour over a period of up to two years. It also helps provide access to other support services and training for those involved in the program.

The program works with First Nations, African Nova Scotians, visible minorities, those on employment support and income assistance, persons with a disability, and workers over 55 years of age.

Battiste had spent the past five years travelling West for work, leaving behind his two children, ages six and four, until he was hired by MRC earlier this month. The company has recently been awarded contracts to dismantle former navy ships.

“I means a lot really, I don’t miss birthdays … it’s good to be home,” he said.

“I’m basically a labourer and a torchman, so I’ll be cutting up the navy ships with the hand touches.”

At an event at Membertou Trade and Convention Centre Monday, Municipal Affairs Minister Derek Mombourque­tte, on behalf of Labour and Advanced Education Minister Labi Kousoulis

Noted that since the program started a few months ago, it has connected 170 people to 104 workplaces, by working with 10 communityb­ased organizati­ons. The province has put $10 million into the program.

“It has the flexibilit­y necessary to ensure it is effective in each unique community,” Mombourque­tte said.

Organizati­ons participat­ing in the program in Cape Breton include the Island Employment Associatio­n - Nova Scotia Works Centre in Sydney and Port Hawkesbury and the Mi’kmaw Economic Benefits Office in Membertou.

Mi’kmaw Economic Benefits Office executive director Alex Paul said the NOW program is innovative. Prior efforts to assist Mi’kmaq people in entering the labour force have had mixed success, he said.

“We could put them in a training program that was designed by industry, we could get them on a work experience, but that work experience was never long enough to make them a real value to an employer,” Paul said.

This program, however, put up to two years of wage subsidy on the table, he added, helping to bridge the skill gap and enabling participan­ts to be prepared for the workforce and of value to their employers.

Jaime Smith of the Centre for Employment Innovation with St. Francis Xavier University said as the program has been ongoing they have been conducting research and have identified factors they believe have resulted in success, including the addition of a workplace-employer education component and the flexibilit­y of supports available for participan­ts.

 ?? CAPE BRETON POST PHOTO ?? Municipal Affairs Minister Derek Mombourque­tte, from left, Mi’kmaw Economic Benefits Office executive director Alex Paul and Jaime Smith of the Centre for Employment Innovation with St. Francis Xavier University, speak at an event at the Membertou...
CAPE BRETON POST PHOTO Municipal Affairs Minister Derek Mombourque­tte, from left, Mi’kmaw Economic Benefits Office executive director Alex Paul and Jaime Smith of the Centre for Employment Innovation with St. Francis Xavier University, speak at an event at the Membertou...
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