Working to GET a job: barriers to employment among post- irpa GARs

Working to GET a job: barriers to employment among post-irpa GARs Kathy Sherrell, UBC Geography

Post-IRPA GARs • Policy and Procedural Changes: • Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act (2002) • From ‘ability to settle’ to ‘need for protection’ • New source regions and ‘protracted refugee situations’ • Changing profile: • ‘Multi-barriered’ or ‘high-needs’ GARs • New service or program needs?

Project • MITACS-Metropolis BC internship • Immigration Partnerships and Initiatives Branch, Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development (ALMD) • Employment and employability among post-IRPA GARs • Review of existing employment programs and services • 14 key informant interviews (16 individuals)

Changing profile of GARs • GARs arriving in 2007 were more likely than previous cohorts: • to arrive from protracted refugee situations, • to report speaking neither official language upon arrival, and • to have lower levels of (formal) education

GARs: Level of Education

Previous research findings • High un(der)employment and reliance on government transfers; • Refugees stated their willingness and desire to obtain employment; • Respondents view language and employment as interrelated issues that cannot be addressed individually; and • There is a need for programs linked to employment that enable respondents to continue language training. (McLean et al. 2006; Cubie 2006; Sherrell 2008)

Results: Key types of support and action 1) The introduction of case management and structured support from shortly after arrival; 2) The provision of programs and services that seek to develop life skills and job-training to assist people in obtaining employment;

Results: Key types of support and action 3) Action to educate employers, and wider society, about the difficulties faced by refugees and establish opportunities to assist GARs in obtaining Canadian workplace experience; and 4) The continued provision of support to clients after they have obtained employment to ensure they develop necessary job maintenance skills.

Initial contact with GARs Liaise with Employers and Increased Public Education Case management Information Targeted Assistance or Multi-disciplinary Assessment Intensive Life Skills Intensive English Classes Continuum of Employment Programs Follow up and monitoring to develop job maintenance skills Job search & employment programs Vocational / Job Skills Training Programs Volunteer, job placement, & mentoring Obtain increased self-sufficiency Obtain employment and achieve financial self-sufficiency

Concluding comments • Profile of GARs significantly different than previous cohorts • Necessitate a range of flexible and supported programs to support diverse clientele • Facilitating integration requires collaborative approach involving all stakeholders • Disconnect between needs and services? • Service landscape beginning to change

Thanks to …. • Immigration Partnerships and Initiatives Branch, Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development • Dr. Dan Hiebert, Academic Supervisor • MITACS-Metropolis BC Internship

Working to GET a job: barriers to employment among post- irpa GARs