Gjoa Haven residents get job ready
Six-week program provides workplace training and placement
Meagan Leonard
Northern News Services
Monday, December 21, 2015
UQSUQTUUQ/GJOA HAVEN
Another group of Nunavummiut are better prepared to enter the territory's expanding workforce thanks to a six-week job-readiness program recently offered in the Hamlet of Gjoa Haven.
The outreach program run by the Cambridge Bay Wellness Centre in partnership with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association is part of a series of initiatives meant to help communities and residents take advantage of major development opportunities across the territory. It was the fourth course to be offered, with previous sessions for men and women held in Cambridge Bay.
Gjoa Haven wellness centre support worker Elizabeth Kaosoni helped run the course and said participants were not aware of many of the job possibilities available to them and a number of them were able to find employment in the construction sector following graduation. Others decided to continue their education and have enrolled in courses at Nunavut Arctic College.
"They didn't even know there was lots of work for them. They thought there was not that many work placements," she said. "Some of the women got to work in the field of construction and they enjoyed that."
Ten residents completed the program and received certificates but Kaosoni said they had to turn people away.
"We had four other people waiting list to see if anybody was going to drop out but nobody dropped out," she said.
In the beginning of the program, students were asked to create an individual portfolio outlining their strengths and employment interests. It was through this process that Kaosoni said she found some relatives she had never met before.
"I got to find some family members from both sides of my families doing the portfolio. I knew I had relatives in different communities but I didn't know who they were," she said. "It was so awesome."
More than 20 guest speakers from various fields addressed the students throughout the program, highlighting how to find employment in different sectors and what their jobs entailed. Kaosoni said this portion was very inspiring for participants.
"There (were) some government people, there were some housing people, there were some construction people (who came)," she said.
They also received first-aid training and driving courses, she said.
Although she says she wishes they could do more to help people find work, the workshop was a good start and she hopes they will continue to receive funding from the Kitikmeot Inuit Association so initiatives such as this can continue in the future.
