In Quebec, looking for a job can be a journey full of pitfalls, but for asylum seekers, this search has its share of frustrations, especially for those whose professional qualifications are not recognized. Mamadou, a Senegalese asylum seeker, shares with us his experience, which is similar to that of many others.
Winter light filters through the vast bay windows of the Grande Bibliothèque de Montréal.
Mamadou goes there often. He spends his days doing research there. His expertise in defending human rights, acquired in particular at the UN in Senegal, did not open the doors to the Quebec job market. “I have experience, but we don't want it,” he laments.
Also having skills in environmental protection, he recalls a trip that took him and other Senegalese defenders to Poland. There, they saw that coal-fired power plants had been shut down and converted into office complexes.
“There is a small town called Bargny, where the State of Senegal opened a coal-fired power plant, and this led to a conflict between the inhabitants of Bargny and the current government,” he said.
Despite these international experiences in fighting climate change and monitoring hazardous waste for local populations in Senegal, last summer, in Quebec, he only got a position for people with no experience. It is a job in a non-profit organization whose name he prefers not to give.
Quickly, his colleagues, young college students and university students working in summer jobs, told him that they did not understand that, with his experience, he had not at least been their supervisor.
“But when you arrive, you feel that there is a certain professional stigma. Because you arrive here, we are making you understand indirectly that we do not recognize your diplomas,” says Mamadou.
“No asylum seeker who arrives aims to reach out and receive social assistance. They all want to have a professional life,” he insists. “But how can one explain the fact that Quebec, which says it needs labour, makes employment programs inaccessible, at least for asylum seekers?” Mamadou wonders.
Ineligibility for employment programs
Mamadou is active on a Facebook page for asylum seekers. He is often the first to offer precise and thorough advice in response to the questions asked. How do I get social assistance? How do you stop receiving it if you have a job? Where can I find a good lawyer? If my roommate has a criminal record, is that likely to impact my own asylum claim? These are all questions that a caring and multicultural community strives to answer to the best of its knowledge. Mamadou says that community workers sometimes write to him privately for advice.
It is thanks to his daily research at the Grande Bibliothèque that he can answer his colleagues. “This is how I discovered that we did not have access to certain employability programs,” he laments.
The Quebec Ministry of Employment confirms this: “Asylum seekers are however ineligible for the active employment measures of the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity.” This situation leaves a large number of individuals at an impasse, unable to make use of their skills and professional experience.
However, the ministry spokesperson qualified things: “An asylum seeker can come to a Services Québec office and benefit from universal employment services such as access to online placement and labour market information services and group sessions.” These services include the labor market, curriculum vitae and cover letter.
In addition, the Ministry of Employment recently announced two pilot projects aimed at helping asylum seekers with a work permit who are interested in the tourism sector or in the field of health and social services. The objective? Allow more people to join programs that they did not have access to.
Is Simon, an asylum seeker, an example of this exclusion from employment integration programs? He was in fact refused a social integration position because of his immigration status.
In an email that La Converse was able to consult, the program manager of a Montreal organization replied as follows: “Unfortunately, your status as an asylum seeker does not make you eligible to participate. If your status changes to that of accepted refugee (protected person), you will then be eligible for our course.”
“It's frustrating,” says Simon, who has received this type of message several times.
For its part, the Social Center for Immigrant Assistance has an agent dedicated to finding employment for asylum seekers. However, those responsible for the employment component declined our interview request.
Other centres that offer similar services did not respond to our interview requests.
The Job Fair for Asylum Seekers, revealing a desire to work
This year, El Niño has made winter milder than usual. However, the weather decided to give us a real winter day, last December, the day of the second Asylum Seeker Job Fair.
As soon as the Salon opened, a long line formed outside, under the snowflakes.
Manuel*, a Colombian who has lived in Quebec for four years, has just completed his career in francization. He is surprised at the number of people present at the Salon. “I waited almost an hour to get in,” he said, a bit behind a group of job seekers.
Several organizations are present to inform asylum seekers of their rights, and tell them, for example, that employment insurance is granted to them in the event of job loss. Other organizations offer information on finding housing.
Samira*, an asylum seeker from Uganda, had been in Canada for three months by the time we met her. She is especially surprised at the quantity of resources that exist and that she has never heard of. An English speaker, she believes that English is a barrier to accessing certain services.
“I am happy to have come here today because I learned that we had access to housing assistance,” says the woman who was a cleaning lady in her country of origin.
Employment agencies are also there, as are employers, although in smaller numbers. This is the case of Excavation HEBR, a company founded by Alexandre Hébert. Specializing in excavation, the young entrepreneur from the Montreal region aroused a certain enthusiasm at the Show.
“I think it's thanks to our big toy,” he exclaims, smiling, pointing to a small-sized excavator, but big enough to draw attention. The toy, a reproduction of a real construction machine, instantly provokes discussions with the men, who are quick to give it their CV.
“We are looking for a longer relationship with our workers. Sometimes, hiring temporary foreign workers means they don't necessarily come back — there's quite a lot of turnover and training is lost. Whereas here, our initiative is more about maintaining a relationship with INICI, and then building a long-term relationship with our workers [who are asylum seekers],” explains Mr. Hébert with conviction. The mission of the INICI organization is to offer personalized integration, francization and employment assistance services to immigrants.
What M. Hébert also loves is choosing asylum seekers who have a construction background in their country of origin in order to be able to compare methods once in the field. “It's always very rewarding,” he confirms.
In recent months, temporary foreign workers have been at the heart of debates on the reception capacity of Quebec and Canada.
Ottawa has also hardened the tone: from the 1Er May 2024, access to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) will be reduced. The number of temporary foreign workers that businesses can hire cannot exceed 20% of their staff (except in health and construction).
Mo, an asylum seeker from Djibouti who left his country for reasons of political persecution, is a banker by training. “I am not here for pleasure,” he says.
His amused look nevertheless expresses a certain resignation. He knows that he won't work as a banker. So his dream is at least to work, and to enjoy what he does a little. “You have to have experience in Quebec; I don't think it will be easy for me to get a position that I aspire to. We will see if I can get one of the positions I aspire to, but I will apply for any job.”
He, who used to provide for his family, wants to become financially independent again. “Now, friends are hosting me because social assistance is not enough,” explains Mo, who has been waiting for his work permit since August 2023.
A promised land...
Mamadou is surprised that his skills are not recognized.
“As an asylum seeker, you have to work even harder to reach the same professional level. You have a bachelor's degree, but as an asylum seeker, you have to work even harder to prove yourself. We have the impression that we underestimate our professional experience acquired abroad here,” he regrets.
He did not expect such a challenge, because “Canada's discourse outside is a flattering speech that says; “We need labour.”” Entire networks of influencers, especially in Africa, promote an idyllic lifestyle in Canada, This explains the disappointment once there, as reported by a journalist from Zimbabwe.
Like many others, Mamadou hopes that the doors can open wider to include those who may be Canadian citizens tomorrow.
“With a little bit of effort, with a good policy, I think Canada can succeed in integrating asylum seekers,” Mamadou says.
However, he wonders if he made the right choice, because today he is still waiting for his hearing to be heard as a refugee. Imprisoned several times in Senegal, he fled persecution.
“So on a mental level, maybe you ran away from prison in your country, but now [Canada has my passport] and I feel a bit doomed to wait because we don't know anything about court dates.”
Meanwhile, job offers follow one another.
*All names have been changed in order to protect the anonymity and safety of asylum seekers encountered and mentioned.