dynamic

COVER STORY
hoping to “meet and interact with local
business people” but the experience
turned out to be life-altering.
“I met the president of the Chamber
of Commerce, a very beautiful, strong,
kind woman by the name of Valerie
Payn,” Joelle relates. “I did the makeup
for her photo shoot and she was very
pleased that I organized it in such a
short period of time. It was a delightful
experience and I consider it to be one of
my greatest achievements in Halifax.
It was a great inspiration for my new
small business as a makeup artist. I was
able to start working just few months
later and this event was a big open door
for my career.”
The “Driving Diversity” program
is just one initiative that the Halifax
Chamber of Commerce has spearheaded
to foster a welcoming and inclusive
business climate for immigrants.
The Chamber hosted a roundtable
recently with the Nova Scotia Office of
Immigration to “discuss immigration
issues facing Nova Scotia and how
the business community can help,”
MacDonald says. She also notes that
their annual pre-budget submissions
consistently make a case for increased
immigration which, in turn, has led to
a strong working relationship with the
provincial government on this issue.
“Immigration is a key part of the
Chamber’s plan to see Halifax become
one of the top three growth cities in
Canada by 2018,” MacDonald says.
“To do that Halifax needs to be a more
competitive city and in order to be
competitive we need to grow, which
means we need to attract and retain
talent and keep them at the top of their
game.”
ISANS continues to do its part.
Sherry Redden gives considerable
praise to Paul Pickering “who does free
sessions on workplace culture, diversity
training, the challenges and benefits of
hiring immigrants as well as the business
support programs that encourage people
to hire immigrants.” She also mentions
the unflagging support of Atlantic
Chamber of Commerce Vice President
Glenn Davis, who “has been sending
out information to all 52 chambers about
our programs and services that promote
hiring immigrants across the province.”
Ashwin Kutty was scarcely aware
of such resources when he founded
WeUsThem a decade ago, but he’s since
witnessed the benefits first-hand.
Halifax needs to be a more competitive city and in
order to be competitive we need to grow, which means
we need to attract and retain talent and keep them
at the top of their game.”
— Melissa MacDonald, Communications Specialist,
Halifax Chamber of Commerce
“I was talking to someone who recently
immigrated here to further his family’s
education,” Kutty explains. “He was
looking for some stable mechanism of
employment or for doing business here.
So I talked to him about what ISANS and
the Chamber provides for networking
possibilities.”
After connecting with some
executives in town and learning what the
possibilities were based on his education
and experience, they discovered that
securing an official CPA and various
other certifications was integral to
moving on to the next step. According to
Kutty, he’s “looking forward to pursuing
that right now with the hopes of getting
to a financial position with a local
company” and, thanks to ISANS, “his
wife is now working as a translator for
Syrian refugees.”
“That’s a story where learning
occurred based on direct feedback from
potential employers, from folks that can
speak to what the requirements and needs
are, rather than having someone guess
their way through it,” Kutty observes.
“I think if we focus on the specific
needs of immigrants, and literally meet
them as they arrive to tell them about
all these different venues, I think that
would be great.”
BUSINESS VOICE 19