A helping hand for newcomers 

Sai and her husband, Karthic, left their extended family and moved from India to USA for their Masters education. COVID-19 hit and cases were extremely high in both the States and India. Meanwhile, the Canadian government’s handling of the pandemic impressed the couple and so they decided to move north. Sai did some research online, reached out to friends, and was told that the best place to settle was the Niagara Region and the place to go for help finding a job was the YMCA Employment & Immigrant Services. Both Sai and Karthic possessed post-graduate degrees, work experience and a good grasp of the English language. And so, the move to Canada was quite smooth. The only challenge? Moving during the pandemic (as most places had closed). They had trouble finding a place to rent and had to bunk in with friends. The YMCA of Niagara was still open virtually, and the couple felt relieved.

Sai emailed the YMCA of Niagara and was connected with Angela, a YMCA employment coach, and Iris, a YMCA career mapping coach. Both Angela and Iris assisted with fine-tuning their resumes, gave valuable information about the local Niagara job market, and reached out with relevant openings. Angela sent Sai links to YMCA Employment videos that were being uploaded weekly to the YMCA of Niagara YouTube channel. These videos highlight key areas for job seekers during COVID-19.

In-person meetings were not possible during the pandemic. So, Angela and Iris scheduled screen time with Sai and Karthic virtually through Zoom. They also communicated via email or spoke over the phone. Sai and Karthic only had one computer to share between the two of them during this process but they would schedule appointments and job interviews so that the times did not overlap.

Within three months, with the guidance of Angela and Iris, the couple found employment within their prospective fields of study. Sai landed a job in Environmental & Civic Engineering while Karthic secured a position in Business Administration.

Iris continues to periodically connect with the couple to ensure that they are happy with their new employers in Niagara. She also offers additional support that they may need during the pandemic. Sai and Kathic are following the new YMCA Immigrant Services Facebook page for valuable information.

During COVID-19, the YMCA of Niagara has continued to meet the employment needs of job seekers and laid-off workers in Niagara through our three delivery sites. Eighty-eight percent of our clients have been successful in re-entering the workforce or returning to school for career transitioning and/or advancement. Our diverse staff working with the YMCA Immigrant Services offer services in several languages to our newcomers; Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Arabic, French, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean. This makes transition for immigrants with language barriers settling into the Niagara Region smoother.