News
Family escapes refugee camp
For Zemetu and her two children, this has been a year of miracles for the family. Arsema was four and Ashenafi was seven when they fled Eritrea with their widowed mother and were forced to live in a refugee camp. Zemetu says life was a nightmare. "We lived in a small...
IKEA program hires newcomers
The Catholic Centre for Immigrants has partnered up with IKEA Canada to help newcomers land jobs at the popular home furnishings store. The IKEA Canada’s Refugee Employment Program launched earlier this year and CCI’s employment team has been working with newcomers to...
Farouk plans for success
By Claudine Nduwimana When Farouk Siluuke thinks about what Canada has to offer him, he doesn’t hesitate. Canada is a place where he can fulfil his dreams. “Canada is a land full of opportunities,” says Farouk. The young man arrived in Ottawa last July. There was no...
Kids Up Front, a valued partner
By Haiqa Khattak It’s Ottawa Senators game night and Sens fans are cheering for their team. Somewhere in Ottawa, there is a young newcomer watching it on TV. He wishes he could attend that game but the ticket is too expensive. That’s where Kids Up Front steps in....
Adapting to the Canadian market
By Haiqa Khattak Oyaje Omaku was sending applications to employers and companies, but they were not contacting her or inviting her to job interviews. “My applications were going into a black hole because I did things the way it was done in my country,” she said....
Finding her own way to college
By Haiqa Khattak I remember the day I visited the University of Ottawa's admission office with my education transcripts from my home country of Pakistan. I had completed high school pre-medical in my country. The lady at the information desk showed me the possible...
Marking March Break with eggs
By Haiqa Khattack Volunteers were helping Vincaire Minyer take a milkshake and a broiled egg from the pancake breakfast stall. Vincaire, 16, is from Uganda, a country that is “not too hot, nor too cold,” he says. Canada’s cold weather doesn’t bother him much despite...
Taking the lead with youth
By Claudine Nduwimana Helpful, respectful and eager to learn are just some of the words to describe Reuben Nashali. Reuben came to Ottawa on Feb. 22, 2017 to join some of his family who were already here. His mother and siblings had settled a year earlier in Ottawa...
Living the Canadian dream
By Claudine Nduwimana Douaa remembers her life as a refugee in Lebanon. She was working in a grocery store to help support her family, her dream of going to university put on hold. Now, less than three years later, Douaa is a first-year student at Carleton University...
Services help newcomers settle
By Shabana Ansari Mitra Ghaffari arrived in Canada six years ago with nothing but a post-graduate degree in English and a strong belief in Canada’s liberal and inclusive culture. Living at a women’s shelter and completely on her own in a new country where she...