WINNIPEG — A new job board is circulating through Winnipeg, with job openings tailored to help refugees in Winnipeg find work.
The new jobs are being generated by Omar Rahimi, a former refugee who moved to Canada from Iraq in 2001. So far the new board has given close to 200 people new to Canada a place to work.
“There’s a lot of jobs in Winnipeg that don’t require a lot of English, you just have to be willing to work,” Rahimi said.
RELATED: ‘It brings back memories’: former refugee living in Winnipeg on Trump’s travel ban
Everything from snow clearing, painting, and construction are all jobs included on the board. Rahimi said he’s using his connections that he’s made over the years, to find a perfect place for refugees to start working in a new country.
“We want to show newcomers how to get a job, how to search for a job, how to keep a job.”
The job program was started in May 2016, with new opportunities posted regularly.
The co-owner of Creative Granite Works saw the board posted in a newspaper ad, and decided to contact Rahimi, to fill three full-time positions.
“It’s a trade that not a lot of people teach. It was an opportunity that I thought i could help a few people out,” Dennis Konrad with Creative Granite Works said.
RELATED: Ghanaian community in Winnipeg comes together to help frostbitten refugees
One of those people is Wael Jaffel, who moved to Canada from Tunisia three years ago. He said it’s extremely difficult to find a job as a newcomer.
“When I first got here, it took me like four or five months, it didn’t work,” Jaffel said.
Now, he’s four months in to his new job as a granite worker.
RELATED: Syrian refugee family celebrate 1 year anniversary of being welcomed to Winnipeg
“For me this job is like an art. You have to do it right, you have to do it straight, you have to do it beautiful. I really enjoy this job.”
Rahimi said he will be posting more jobs in the near future. He is also planning on launching a job board website for refugees soon.