Employment training program at The Food Bank of Waterloo Region 'empowering newcomers'

John Dalusong · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 10, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 10

A caller programme tally by The Food Bank of Waterloo Region that aims to assistance newcomers to Canada participate the workforce has conscionable welcomed its archetypal cohort of participants. 

Aptly named the Newcomer Work Experience Program, the paid grooming programme aims to springiness newcomers the indispensable occupation skills they request to capable gaps successful the section workforce. 

"We judge successful empowering newcomers by helping them physique their skills and confidence, truthful they tin lend to the Canadian system and assistance capable captious labour gaps successful Waterloo portion by strengthening the workforce wherever enactment is needed most," Kim Wilhelm, CEO astatine The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, said successful a merchandise Wednesday.

The programme volition supply newcomers with grooming connected workplace champion practices, particularly wellness and safety, nutrient safety, bid picking, operator assistance and handling of hazardous materials successful the workplace. Participants volition besides larn astir de-escalation techniques, arsenic good arsenic moving with susceptible populations.

The grooming programme is funded by the Region of Waterloo with enactment from Immigration Partnership. 

Region increasing fast

In March of 2024, Regional Chair Karen Redman said she expects the portion to beryllium location to 1 cardinal residents by 2050. Redman announced this during her 2024 State of the Region nether the taxable "1 Million Ready."

During that aforesaid month, Statistics Canada reported "that the [country's] colonisation grew faster successful 2023 than it has astatine immoderate clip since the 1950s."

Changes to migration policies successful precocious 2024 person reduced the people numbers for imperishable residents to Canada successful the adjacent fewer years. But Tara Bedard, enforcement manager astatine Immigration Partnership, says Waterloo portion remains one of the fastest increasing communities successful the state successful ample portion owed to immigration.

She says uncovering a occupation remains to beryllium 1 of the toughest challenges for newcomers, making programs similar the Newcomer Work Experience Program a necessity.

"The unemployment complaint for caller immigrants is rather a spot higher than it is successful wide for the determination population, astir doubly arsenic precocious astatine times," she said. "We bash a survey of immigrants… each different twelvemonth wherever consistently finding enactment is 1 of the apical challenges."

But according to Bedard, the program's rationale goes beyond conscionable helping immigrants modulation smoothly into the Canadian workforce. 

"This programme is specifically responding to the concerns and challenges that we perceive from some concern and immigrants," she said. 

Wilhelm seconds this, saying the programme besides responds to different gaps the program's organizers person seen successful the community. In the lawsuit of the nutrient bank, she says they "rely heavily" connected volunteers.

"Being capable to employment newcomers besides helps the Food Bank of Waterloo Region capable a spread successful our precise important enactment to get nutrient retired to our neighbours who request nutrient assistance," Wilhelm explained.

Bedard says the programme is simply a "win-win" for everyone involved. As newcomers get job-specific grooming and businesses get entree to workers with "targeted training," the section system benefits. 

Who tin apply

To suffice for the program, a subordinate indispensable beryllium astatine slightest 16 years aged and beryllium to 1 of the pursuing groups:

• Canadian citizens calved extracurricular of Canada.

• Permanent residents.

• Convention refugees.

• Refugee claimants oregon protected persons with a valid enactment permit.

• Temporary residents with a valid enactment permit, including Ukrainians nether the CUAET (Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel) program.

The existent cohort of participants volition person grooming astatine The Food Bank of Waterloo Region's Kitchener organisation centre implicit the adjacent 4 weeks. 

The programme volition tally until May 2026. At that point, 7 cohorts of newcomers, oregon 42 radical successful total, volition person completed the grooming course. 

Each subordinate volition person a missive of completion that they tin usage to enactment their occupation application.

Wilhelm says the programme volition proceed to supply enactment beyond the program.

"We volition decidedly proceed to beryllium a assets erstwhile these participants permission The Food Bank of Waterloo Region's program to enactment them successful uncovering jobs afterwards," she said. "If we person positions available, we would decidedly see them [to enactment astatine the nutrient bank]."