The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador is supporting the Association for New Canadians to help newcomers better integrate into the community by improving employment services.
In partnership with Academy Canada, a local culinary training institution, and the Restaurant Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Association for New Canadians has developed a social enterprise food truck called Global Eats. The Global Eats truck will provide training, mentorship and work experience to two groups of 12 refugee participants.
The participants, including youth and women in the St. John’s Metro area, will develop their employability and entrepreneurship skills within the food service industry. The food truck made its first appearance in the community at a special open house on 19th June in honour of Refugee Week, offering a sampling menu to attendees.
“Thanks to the dedication of local service providers like the Association for New Canadians, this project and others like it will improve our understanding of newcomer needs and support their successful integration into Canadian communities,” said Nick Whalen, Member of Parliament for St. John’s East.
The goal of this project is to help facilitate newcomers’ labour market attachment and language acquisition by providing the knowledge and training required to work in the Canadian food industry and/or establish their own food-related business.
This project is receiving $570,000 as part of Service Delivery Improvements (SDI) funding, a dedicated stream within the Settlement Program of almost $150 million over five years.
Following the first expression of interest process for SDI launched in fall 2017, more than 100 projects are now funded across the country.
Article published 12th July 2019