Three months ago, Mohammed Chkih left Morocco in search of new opportunities in Calgary. Like many newcomer youth, he found it very difficult to secure employment. He was among over 300 youth who recently attended the Youth Employment Summit hosted by the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) at Platform Calgary. The event, held on Tuesday, connected participants with more than 30 Calgary-based employers, offering job skills development and employment opportunities.
Challenges for Newcomers
“Looking for a job is not that easy for every newcomer because the first thing is you need time to get to know the culture first, the workplace, and the system how it works first,” Chkih said. “Then it requires some time to adapt, and nowadays with the economy it’s not that easy.”
This was the second year for the summit, which was created in response to the need to strengthen newcomer youth employment outcomes, according to Hasmik Asmaryan, CCIS director of business, employment, and training services. “Despite the fact that we offer youth employment programs since 2009, it keeps evolving, becoming bigger, and doing an amazing job helping newcomer youth to integrate, we decided to come up with this idea of hosting a big youth employment summit that will be so much more than just a regular hiring event,” Asmaryan said.
Success from Last Year
Last year, the event hosted 272 youth and about 20 employers from various industries. “We had 56 on-the-spot hirings from attending employers, and of course the hiring process continues over the days, weeks and months, and building on that success,” she said. “Funders were pleased really by the outcome of the initiative, and we secured funding for this year and next year as well.”
Unemployment Statistics
The unemployment rate in Alberta sits at seven per cent. For newcomers, it is 10 per cent, and for youth, it is 14 per cent—double the provincial average. “The challenges that newcomers face again here, we need to be careful because when we talk about newcomers, we need to look at the challenges that the economic immigrants are facing, which is totally different than what refugee youth is facing,” Asmaryan noted.
Language barriers, cultural differences, and competition in the job market all make navigating the Canadian system very difficult. “Events like this and the work that we do throughout our sister organizations in partnership is critical to help the youth to get those skills, confidence, and to help them to build that desirable social capital to make it right for their successful integration,” she added.
Personal Stories
Anarita Tolentino from Heritage College shared her experience moving from the Philippines to Calgary. “For example, I have a background in medical office assistant back home,” Tolentino said. “Here, you should have a Canadian certificate and then Canadian experience, so it’s really hard to get into that.”
The summit provided a platform for youth like Chkih and Tolentino to connect directly with employers, gain valuable skills, and take steps toward meaningful employment in their new community.
