1. Connecting People with People - Strategies
Of Promoting Multiculturalism in BC
I arrived at beautiful British Columbia on October 11, 2013, as a temporary foreign worker.
Cruise ships inspired me to adopt one true value in my life: multiculturalism. Transitioning
from “motion in the ocean” to the “land life”, I discovered that British Columbia promotes
inclusion and diversity as well, which made me feel like at home away from home. Working
as a workshop developer/facilitator for WorkBC Prince George has become nothing more
than a continuation of promoting respect and inclusion of different cultures at one unique
place, Prince George, BC.
When it comes to a diversity of job seekers, WorkBC welcomes all nationalities with
permanent residency status in Canada. So far I welcomed First Nations, job seekers from
Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Belgium, Peru, and Quebec. Every week multiculturalism is
celebrated in a classroom where I teach JOBS 101, a workshop to assist job seekers in
accomplishing their job-related goals. “Welcome to Canada and welcome to Prince George,
BC”! I am sure you have heard it thousand times, but one more time won’t hurt especially
with a smile, eh? Even though there might be job seekers in my classroom speaking
different languages, there is that unique, nonverbal language we all know how to speak, and
that is SMILE. For me, that is another valuable way of promoting multiculturalism, inclusion
and diversity here in British Columbia. At work, I connect people with people;
multiculturalism with BC economy; different knowledge and experiences with the BC skills
gap. We welcome immigrants referred from IMSS and assist them in creating a Canadian-
targeted résumé for a specific job. The story of their professional life found its roots in the
valuable work history from different countries, has recently reached BC and needs to be
tailored to a specific job. What a beautiful way to embrace the cross-cultural difference.
After producing a targeted résumé, immigrants create that sense of belonging to a new
culture, which is part of their transition and assimilation in BC.
Fighting against racism and ethnicity stereotypes are my other strong objectives during
facilitating. There have been many comments on how job cannot be secured due to the
foreign last name, not having Canadian references and Canadian work experience;
particularly if there was an interview process involved when the interviewer had a face-to-
face contact with a foreign interviewee. In my opinion, it is unprofessional to discriminate
against any job seeker on their personal characteristics. I promoted diversity by advising
immigrants to emphasize their skills and accomplishments over the work history. Even
though they might be a different nationality, transferrable skills can definitely give them a
decent form of appreciation and inclusion.
In a summary, my work is making a difference at the workplace as well as in this town. I will
continue contributing and promoting diversity and inclusion in BC because I believe that
newcomers to BC have as just as equal opportunities for getting hired as Canadians.