Employment diversity fair back for year three
Actions Interculturelles, the Sherbrooke-based organization focused on building links between local cultural communities, will be holding its third annual Diversity in Employment and Entreprensurship Fair on the 20 and 21 of October at the Julien Ducharme Centre in Fleurimont. Focused on connecting immigrant communities with local employers, the fair has the overall goal of providing opportunities to people who may encounter obstacles in their efforts to integrate into the labour market for one reason or another, including people under the age of 25 and experienced workers over the age of 55.
Mohamed Soulami, the Executive Director of Actions Interculturelles, explained that the fair is a kind of response to an interesting contradiction in Quebec’s workforce. While on the one hand, there is a well-acknowledged labour shortage resulting from a low unemployment rate across the province, on the other hand employment among immigrant populations is lower than anywhere else in the country.
“It doesn’t make sense to see this,” Soulami said. “We have employers who are losing contracts because they cannot find the workers they need, and there are people here available to work, there is just no link between the two.”
The fair, the executive director explained, is a unique opportunity to connect employers and local immigrant communities directly.
“We need to help them to better know each other,” Soulami said, claiming that a “lack of mutual comprehension” keeps newcomers from knowing where they can turn for work, and local businesses from knowing what a resource they have on hand.
Fabienne Gbaguidi, employment counselor with the Service D’aide aux Neo-canadiens (SANC), an organization focused on helping new arrivals in Sherbrooke integrate into local culture and community, underlined the fact that reliable employment is a major factor in the successful integration of newcomers into a local society. In addition to helping with language and skills development, she noted that it also provides a context in which to develop an understanding of different cultural practices.
“We have had very positive results over the first few years,” Soulami added, saying that it is not unheard-of for people to walk away from the fair with a job.
The organizers boasted of the fact that this year’s fair will be nearly 50 per cent larger than in years past, with 47 different businesses represented and roughly 500 different jobs being offered. Soulami was also proud to announce that the fair will be opened on October 20 with a special presentation by Dominique Anglade, the new deputy premier of Quebec. Born in Montreal to Haitian parents, Anglade will speak to the value of a culturally diverse workplace.
The fair also comes in the middle of the city of Sherbrooke’s Week of intercultural encounters, which has been planned for October 19 to the 29.