Immigrant, 48, finds new spark with welding
When Anthony Marks immigrated to Canada, the 48-year-old came with a lengthy resume that included jobs in architectural drafting in his home country of Guyana and teaching in the technical department at a school in Botswana.
He took his first job in Canada with a construction company in Fort McMurray, leaving his wife and eightyear-old son in Edmonton. On that job, a friend told Marks about the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers.
After a trip to the centre, Marks began to consider his career options. He looked to welding, a trade in which he had some experience and one that he felt had ample opportunity for employment and advancement in Canada. Marks entered a welding course at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and liked what he learned.
“After completing the course, I inquired with the lecturer about what the next steps I should take to really make myself compatible to the Canadian system of welding,” Marks said.
On his teacher’s advice he decided to enter a welding technician program at NAIT, which will give him the knowledge needed to challenge the apprenticeship board exam and enter an apprenticeship in the trade.
“The welding technician course is going to make me more marketable. Without it, I couldn’t enter the apprenticeship system, but now I will definitely be called an apprentice,” Marks said.
When he visited the centre for newcomers, he also learned about the Immigrant Access Fund, which provides loans of up to $10,000 to immigrants to help with the costs of obtaining the Canadian accreditation or training they need to become fully employed in their field. He received a $5,100 loan from the fund in November. That money will help cover tuition for NAIT’s welding program, which Marks starts in February.
Violet Poon, director of program development for the fund, said loans can be used for expenses including tuition and exam fees, tools, books and course materials, and qualification assessments.
While the fund has historically not had a lot of applications from immigrants pursuing trades certification, Poon said it’s an area the organization hopes to expand.
“We support people who did that trade work outside of Canada. They may not have received formal training but they have some experience doing that work and come here and want to be an apprentice,” she said.
Marks said there have been many differences between learning welding in Canada and his experience with the trade in South America and Africa.
“There are lots of things I admire about Canada and one is safety regulations. There’s training on (what to do) if you’re in this situation. We don’t have that in my country,” he said.
While starting a new career in a new country at age 48 may seem daunting to some, Marks is looking forward to what’s ahead.
“For the first few months it was real tough. I wanted to know if I’d made the right decision. But there are a lot of opportunities if you are dedicated,” he said.