This program in Nova Scotia is helping newcomers enter the Canadian workforce

A growing program provided by the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS) is giving newcomers the chance to gain more skills before entering the Canadian workforce.

Many newcomers struggle to get the credentials they need, so the agency is working to address this gap with its Facilitating Access to Skilled Talent program, or FAST.

The program started in 2019, and has helped more than 500 people gain skills — including Saeed Fallahtafti, who moved to Nova Scotia from Iran that same year.

On Thursday, Fallahtafti spoke with CBC Radio's Jeff Douglas on Mainstreet about his experience in the program.

Their conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

What was your experience in Iran like in terms of work?

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, a master of science in industrial management and PhD in strategic management. I used to teach university part-time for more than 10 years, in marketing management and strategic management, but my full-time job was in the financial world. 

I have 10 years of experience at a non-governmental bank in Iran, and started my career as a training supervisor for two years. After that, I got promoted as a financial adviser, and my last position with that bank was marketing manager. So after 10 years, I decided to immigrate to Canada in 2019. That was almost six months before the pandemic.

Listen to Fallahtafti's full interview on CBC Radio's Mainstreet:

When you came here — given that impressive amount of high-level experience — what was it like trying to get a job in Canada?

At first, I went to ISANS to participate in some workshops — how to prepare for interviews, how to prepare and polish my resumé based on Canadian culture — and after a couple of months, I realized I'm not entitled to the same position that I used to have in my home country and I need to start from scratch. That was a challenging time for me ... but I accepted [it].

Was it discouraging?

For sure. That was a tough time because before I immigrated, I supposed, "OK, I can go to university and teach, because I love teaching and I can find a high level job in Canada because I have more than 17 years experience." Before banking, I had some experience in industrial engineering. But after three months, I realized it's a different story here, right? Everything has changed, and I need to put myself together and start a new journey here.

There are three ways to find a job as a newcomer. The first one is, find a survivor job. The second one is, go to university and get a certificate to increase the chance of finding a job. And the third one is, complete some short courses as a certification.

After six months of being here, the pandemic paused everything, so I changed my job strategy. I decided to get some Canadian certificates because that was a gap between my previous experience in my home country and my Canadian experience. I decided to get a certificate in finance. I completed three different courses. The first one was with the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, the second one was with the Canadian Securities Institute and the last one was the FAST program.

After consulting with my employment specialist, I realized this course was useful for me and can be a bridge for me to make a connection between my past experience and the Canadian financial world. 

What did the FAST program provide that those certification programs didn't?

There are some advantages for this course. The first one is that, in a short period of time, I could complete a valid certificate in accounting in Canada and that was a huge advantage. The second one is, it was an interactive course. Basically, the FAST program is a self-study platform, but once a week we had a meeting with a mentor and we could communicate to each other and ask our questions.

Aside from increasing my financial literacy, I was able to ask questions. And this course helped me with my confidence. Because, as a newcomer there are some challenges, and the first one is the language barrier, especially in Nova Scotia and Halifax — with Haligonians using slang words. It's so challenging, especially in the first year, for newcomers because many learned English in their home country, but it was academic English. It's impractical for daily conversation.

Another advantage of the FAST program is that there was a unit about Canadian culture, and that was fabulous. Why? Because in accounting work, in some months, you work under pressure, especially at the end of the year, and that was a unit — how to work under pressure in your workplace.

After the program, were you able to find a job?

Yes. There are two other advantages of the FAST program. After I completed the program, ISANS, in co-operation with the FAST team, connected me to some organizations for interviews.

The last advantage for the FAST program is it's free of charge. And after three or four months, I found a full-time job in Canada for the first time.

Are you happy at your job?

I'm so happy, and it's because I know I started from scratch. But the career path is clear to me and now I know that if I work hard, I can increase my knowledge and experience here and I can be at the same level I used to be.