by Stella Shepard
PEI Community Navigators assist newcomers from other countries and Canadian provinces by creating inclusive and welcoming communities and assisting with challenges newcomers face in rural communities.
This Island-wide organization in collaboration with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the provincial Office of Immigration are providing virtual sessions about the different immigration streams available to recruit international workers.
The virtual sessions are for local employers and service providers and will be in-person when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
There are Navigators for the three regions across PEI. “We work with all new residents in rural Western, Central, and Eastern PEI,” says Maxine Rennie, Program Lead and Executive Director, CBDC West Prince Ventures Limited.
“We have a declining population and are experiencing a labour shortage. We need to bring in more residents to grow the population and the economy of rural PEI.
“Community Navigators are available to support employers planning to bring in newcomers or immigrant workers. Once they arrive, we can help with retention by helping newcomers get familiar with the communities they will be living in. Employers need to keep their employees so they can grow their businesses.”
“Employers can access numerous programs through the different immigration streams,” says Scott Smith, Western PEI Community Navigator. “Different industries have different labour gaps for skilled and unskilled workers. Employers with huge labour gaps include nursing homes, construction, processing plants the agricultural sector, and more.”
The Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)
AIP is a pathway to permanent residency for skilled foreign workers and international graduates from a Canadian institution who want to work and live in one of Canada’s four Atlantic provinces. The program helps employers hire qualified candidates for jobs they haven’t been able to fill locally.
“PEI Community Navigators will be facilitating the Intercultural Competency Training that is now a requirement for the AIP employers,” says Scott. “The employers can reach out to us to deliver the training, which is a three-and-half hour-long course and will be facilitated within a two-week time frame after being requested.”
Rural PEI employers can contact the PEI Community Navigators if they have questions about the different immigration streams.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Lindee Gallant, Eastern PEI Community Navigator
902-969-5989 – Lindee.Gallant@cbdc.ca
Scott Smith, Western PEI Community Navigator
902-853-3636 – Scott.Smith@cbdc.ca
Peggy Miles, Central PEI Community Navigator
902-598-7560 – Peggy.Miles@cbdc.ca
Maxine Rennie, Project Lead, Executive Director of CBDC
902-853-3636 – Maxine.Rennie@cbdc.ca
For more information, visit
- www.PEICommunityNavigators.com
- www.linktr.ee/PEICommunityNavigators
- www.facebook.com/PEICommunityNavigators
For more information about The Atlantic Immigration Program, click here
