Preye Agidee-Adebayo chose economics and statistics as her area of study when entering post-secondary school in her home country of Nigeria; not because it was what she truly loved to do, but because in her culture, you go to school to get a well-paying job. A career in sales certainly offered as much.
But after a while, a high salary alone didn’t cut it anymore.
“For the last 20 years of my life, I’ve been in sales, until I woke up one day and realized, what next,” says Agidee-Adebayo, who now calls Nova Scotia home. “I usually wake up in the morning thinking of my targets and how to meet my targets. It gives you sleepless nights sometimes. I wanted to do something I like to do, and I get paid for it. And sales wasn’t it.”
Between that and a rise in civil unrest in Nigeria, Agidee-Adebayo was looking to relocate in Canada, but wasn’t immediately sure how. Luckily for her, an opportunity presented itself.
“I was googling one time thinking of where can I find scholarships for something, and then, lo and behold, Oxford International College just sent me an email; come to Canada, do the CCA (Continuing Care Assistant) program for ten months,” recalls Agidee-Adebayo. “I got everything in one, really. I got the school, got the program; it was like a package deal.”
Despite her education in econ, she had plenty of pertinent experience caring for her parents, who had suffered strokes and needed care for the rest of their lives, administered by Agidee-Adebayo and two of her four sisters.
“I’ve done this for 16 years, says Agidee-Adebayo. “It’s something that I liked to do. So I thought, okay, this is the easiest thing you can do and you will enjoy it, right? You take care of children, you’ve taken care of your parents, so why not do that?
“I filled the application, and I got a response back within a week. I first thought it was a scam, because I thought, ‘who pays $20,000 for fees? But I did it. The results came back, I had an interview, I was packed and ready. In September of 2022. I arrived on the morning when school was supposed to start; I was straight from the airport into class. There was a scholarship. I didn’t pay a dime.”
That was June of 2022; today, Agidee-Adebayo works as a continuing care assistant for Closing The Gap in Bedford, and that email that so quickly launched her career in the continuing care sector was no fluke of fate. It was a targeted effort by the Nova Scotia government to quickly fill a plethora of new positions being created for the long-term care sector.
It’s called the Continuing Care Recruitment and Retention Program, and it’s a partnership between the Department of Seniors and Long-Term Care and Igility, an entity created by Health Association Nova Scotia to support the healthcare sector.
“We have ambitious plans to open a number of long term care facilities in the next 10 years,” says Heather Jussup, Director of Human Resources and Talent Strategy for Igility, who says the province is working towards a goal of creating 2,200 more long-term care rooms by 2032, and renovating 3,500 replacement rooms by 2027. “In continuing care, there’s a lot of specifically long-term care facilities that are going to be going through renovations and expanding. There’s lots happening in the sector, so we’re preparing for those advancements to the sector, to fill those vacancies.”
“The continuing care sector in Nova Scotia is made up of long term care facilities and home care agencies, and it’s a very diverse sector, made up of many different employers,” adds Erin Schnare, senior strategist with the Department of Seniors and Long Term Care. “There are a lot of individuals in Nova Scotia that need long term care and home care. This program helps us to bring in more people to fill those job vacancies.”
The program offers scholarships, as well as other services, like connecting employers to supports, and services that help newcomers adjust to life in Canada. Agidee-Adebayo says those supports helped her and her family quickly adjust.
“[Everyone was] so welcoming, telling you where to go, to what to expect when you get to Halifax, where to find accommodation. So it wasn’t so much of a culture shock…our director was the best, really. She made sure that it was seamless, the whole process. She knows her onions.”
Agidee-Adebayo sees the progress the department is making in real time, and says it makes her feel secure that she’ll be doing work she loves for years to come.
“I needed to understand, if you do go and do this, are you guaranteed the job? Are you sure you won’t wake up one morning and they’ll say, hey, we don’t have jobs for you anymore? Even when I started working, I worked for three employers. I did always have jobs. So it told me they do need us for sure.
“I do encourage people [to apply]. It’s a great career, if you enjoy being around people you will enjoy the job.”
