Ukrainian newcomer to New Brunswick Maryna Beredire is hitting the ground running looking for work. She arrived in Canada just three weeks ago with 170 Ukrainian newcomers.
Beredire is looking for part-time work in it in order to support her 11-year-old daughter, while her husband remains in Ukraine. That’s what brought her to a job fair organized by Moncton’s Ukrainian club and J.D. Irving (JDI), one of New Brunswick’s major employers.
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Meanwhile, Beredire is employed with a company back home.
“I’m working on Ukrainian time, so I’m working at night. I can work (during the) day in a Canadian company, I will try,” she said.
Beredire said she had some help from the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area (MAGMA) to create her CV.
“They helped (Ukrainians) to communicate with employers, so we really have good help here,” she added.
Ukrainian newcomers do not have refugee status in Canada, and instead arrive under the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel.
This means they don’t have the financial supports afforded to refugees and are forced to seek work as soon as they can.
JDI Sawmills and Woodlands’ director of talent acquisition Erin Miller said people in various situations were among the fair’s turnout.
“There’s easily 80 people that arrived here today all at different stages. Some arrived 3 months ago. Some arrived last week,” said Miller.
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With hundreds of positions open in various divisions, Miller said the company is prepared to offer some perks to job hopefuls.
“Through employment we’re able to help them get established in their community… If the job is elsewhere, not in Moncton, we’re willing to provide relocation supports, temporary accommodations and so forth.”
She said there were also opportunities for those with limited English.
“What we’ll do is direct them to entry-level roles, where they might be able to start out in one position, and then once they build their skills in English, move into another role,” she said, adding the company was willing to explore offering English tutoring as a perk.
Maryna Beredire said for the moment, she would like to remain in Moncton so she can stay near her sister-in-law, but isn’t ruling out the possibility of relocating in the future.
“I have a place to live with my daughter, but in the future, yes I can move. If it will be a good opportunity for me for my career, of course it will be great.”
According to data released earlier this week by Statistics Canada, there are currently over 13,000 job vacancies in New Brunswick.
The province has already welcomed over 500 Ukrainian newcomers, with a goal of welcoming 1,000 in total.