Helping newcomers on the path towards citizenship
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- Published on Tuesday, November 10, 2015
By Kira Paterson
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
Because of the influx in immigrant workers in Neepawa, Neepawa and Area Settlement Services (NAISS) has been very busy lately. Don Walmsley, coordinator at NAISS, estimated that about one quarter of Neepawa’s population is new immigrants.
He said that since HyLife Foods took over the hog processing plant here, which was around 2008, the population of Neepawa has grown by about 25 per cent. Since June, he said that about 82 students that are new to Canada were enrolled in Neepawa’s schools.
NAISS is an organization that is not run by the government. NAISS works with immigrants who have obtained permanent residency status. They do not work with immigrants who have a temporary foreign workers status (TFW), but many who come with that status become permanent residents (PR).
The organization is meant to help PRs with their transition to Canada and get them equipped to obtain Canadian citizenship. “There’s essentially four pillars, our main services,” explained Walmsley.
“The first one is Information and Orientation. And that can involve anything from where the post office is, to life in Canada,” Walmsley said. He explained that it helps immigrants get to know things such what it’s like to live in Canada as a whole, or what small town Manitoba living is like, or the differences between living in a city and living in a small town.
“The next pillar is English as an Additional Language,” he continued. He explained that to be successful in Canada, knowing one of the official languages is essential. NAISS offers morning and evening English as an Additional Language (EAL) classes to immigrants. Since June, they’ve had 37 new EAL students sign up for these classes. The classes are taught by an English teacher, and have a structured program. The program is structured in levels called Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and an immigrant needs to reach certain CLB level in order to be eligible for citizenship. NAISS also offers a daycare type of service for immigrants with children who need someone to watch their child to be able to attend EAL classes.
The third pillar is called Employment Related Services. “It’s around developing skills. So, for example, we have workshops available that we can provide that work on job interview skills, on the work environment in Canada,” Walmsley said. Different countries have different standards and different ways of running a workplace. “When you’re coming to a new country, these are all very important issues or aspects that you need to understand. Because really, what it comes down to for any of us, in any kind of work situation, is not simply being able to have the skills to do the job. Do you fit in?” Walmsley explained that being able to fit in and socialize with the other employees is imperative to being able to keep and move forward in a job. “We have workshops for employers, if they want, to talk about what sort of strategies to use when looking at a newcomer coming in,” he added. He said that so many of the newcomers have post-secondary education from their own country, but they can’t necessarily be considered a professional in their field with just their qualifications from their country. NAISS helps these immigrants find out how they can use their skills and how to become professionals by Canada’s standards. They also refer the immigrants to the employment agency in Neepawa for them to find jobs.
“The fourth main pillar is what we call Community Connections.” Walmsley explained that this pillar helps immigrants know what their rights are and helps make the connections to individuals in the community that they might need to get in touch with. “To help them find out what supports or resources are in the community, and make those referrals.” He said that many of the newcomers are very community-minded and NAISS helps them get involved in the community in ways that interest them.
Once a family or an individual has lived in Canada for four of the last six years and has met certain criteria set by the government, they can become Canadian citizens. NAISS can’t offer services to people once they have become citizens of Canada, but they help the PRs get to the point where they are able to apply for citizenship. Walmsley estimated that since January, they have had about a dozen families in the Neepawa area become citizens of Canada. He hopes that eventually, Neepawa will be able to hold their own citizenship ceremony, so that residents won’t have to go to Brandon.
NAISS is also looking to expand its volunteer base. Walmsley said that they haven’t decided exactly what kind of jobs volunteers will be responsible for, but they are currently looking at possibilities. He said that they hope to get volunteers involved in orientation and helping in EAL classes. Anyone interested in volunteering with NAISS is encouraged to call them at 204-476-2055 or drop by the office, which is on the second level of the old Co-op grocery store at 342 Mountain Ave, to let him know. He’d like to find out what people would be interested in volunteering for and why, and that will help them to decide where to get volunteers involved.
