The YMCA of Halifax can be a great resource for newcomers to Halifax.
In addition to providing programs for youth and children that can help them make friends in their new home, the YMCA will help immigrants connect to a professional network. Barbara Miller Nix, the chief operating officer of public sector programs for YMCA of Halifax, says this is a valuable tool in finding work.
“If you’re growing up in Halifax, you are aware of what the networks are,” she says. “We’re making some of the other things that a lot of us take for granted work smoothly.”
Many immigrants already have skills or training and the YMCA acts as a “dot connector” to help new people to fit into networks that match up with their area of expertise.
All immigrants come to Canada to try to make a better life for themselves and their family, but some are so eager to get to work that they “take any job sometimes,” Miller Nix says.“We really try to work with people to in their area of expertise and match up their skills and the needs in the new community,” she says.
While the YMCA doesn’t offer certification assistance, it works side-by-side with the Immigrant Settlement Association of Nova Scotia to help professionals transfer their skills and education to Canada.
The YMCA office at 65 Main Avenue in Fairview is a hub for many programs that they offer. There are also two employment centres: one is in Halifax on Gottingen Street and the other is on Wyse Road in Dartmouth.
For more information visit www.ymcahfx.ca.
