March 22, 2018
The Government of Canada is recognizing St.Amant for its role in connecting newcomers to meaningful volunteer opportunities, language training, and permanent employment supporting individuals with developmental disabilities and autism, and their families.
The non-profit organization in Winnipeg, Manitoba, was congratulated today by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Ahmed Hussen as one of the winners of the 2018 Employer Awards for Newcomer Employment for their exemplary work to help newcomers to Canada find and retain jobs and enhance their employment skills. St.Amant offers multiple training opportunities after volunteers complete 100 hours of service including English at Work and on-site training through Blue Cross, all at no cost to participants. The organization also hosted a citizenship ceremony in February 2017 as part of Canada 150 celebrations, where several staff became Canadian Citizens alongside other newcomers from the local community.
Every year through these awards, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) recognizes local businesses’ innovative efforts to improve the integration of newcomers into the labour market across Canada. The winning organizations help reduce the barriers faced by newcomers in entering the labour market and improve their overall settlement in Canada.
Winners were announced at the 2018 Employer Council of Champions Summit, organized by Hire Immigrants Ottawa. The Summit brought together business, government and civic leaders to engage in a dialogue about the effective integration of refugees and immigrants into the labour force, and to celebrate employer excellence.
Quotes
“I am both grateful for and impressed by the work that St.Amant has done to support the successful settlement and integration of newcomers to Canada. Through its unique volunteer placement program with a 90% hire rate into permanent employment, St.Amant is truly a leader in breaking down the barriers that many newcomers experience when trying to find meaningful employment. This makes a significant difference in the lives of newcomers to Canada, as well as to the children and families that St.Amant supports in their community.”
– The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
“St.Amant relies on newcomers to fill critical positions within our organization. We’re grateful to the newcomer groups for believing in St.Amant’s mission and bringing a beautiful diversity to our workforce through sharing language, music, food and cultural celebrations. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our employment support for newcomers and to sharing what we’ve learned with other organizations.”
– Jennifer Kilimnik, Director of Human Resource Services at St.Amant
Quick facts
IRCC partners with Hire Immigrants Ottawa to recognize private businesses that support the successful labour market integration of newcomers in Canada.
Winning employers are chosen based on nominations from settlement service provider organizations.
St.Amant employs over 1,800 staff and hundreds of volunteers, and supports more than 1,600 children. Since introducing the English at Work program in 2014, more than 125 staff and volunteers have benefited from over 10,000 hours of language training and support.