Providing skills training and job opportunities for young Canadians and newcomers in Surrey-Newton

SUKH Dhaliwal, MP for Surrey—Newton, this week  announced over $3.4 million in federal funding to Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS) that will help young Canadians and newcomers gain a foothold in the workforce.

The Government of Canada will provide over $2.6 million for the Technology, Education and Health Sectors: Foreign Credential Recognition Loans Project. The project will provide support services to internationally trained newcomers, ensuring they gain access to training, recertification and career placements.

The Foreign Credential Recognition Program aims to improve the integration of internationally trained newcomers into the workforce. The program provides funding to and works with the provinces and territories and other stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, post secondary institutions, sectoral stakeholders and employers, to implement projects that facilitate the assessment and recognition of qualifications acquired in other countries by newcomers. It also works to improve labour market outcomes of skilled newcomers through individual employment supports.

The Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society will also receive over $800,000 from the Government of Canada through the Skills Link program. The funding will support its Social Innovative Youth Employment Program. This project will provide six weeks of in-class employability skills training workshops and up to 16 weeks of paid work placement for youth. These initiatives will assist up to 40 young Canadians overcome barriers to employment and develop the skills they need to find and keep good-quality jobs or return to school.

Skills Link supports projects that help young people who face more barriers to employment than others get employability skills and gain valuable job experience, which, in turn, helps them make a successful transition into the workforce or go back to school. This could include youth who have not completed high school, single parents, Indigenous youth, youth with disabilities, newcomers or youth living in rural or remote areas.

Patty Hajdu, federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, said: “We know that our communities are healthier and stronger when everyone can fully participate. Supporting youth and newcomers as they transition into the workforce and facilitating processes for newcomers is a key way in which we can grow our economy and strengthen the middle class.”

Dhaliwal said: “This funding will make a big difference for newcomers and young people in Surrey-Newton. I am proud to be a part of a government that believes in an inclusive economy, where everyone has a chance at success.”

Satbir Cheema, Chief Executive Officer, PICS, said: “We are very excited to launch the PICS Employment for Youth Through Social Innovation Program that is funded by the Federal Government. This unique program will assist youth to overcome barriers to employment by providing six weeks of paid classroom training and sixteen weeks of paid work experience, thereby improving the employability of participating youth.”