One of the most difficult experiences to feel part of this new life in Canada is professional stability. For many people getting a job is not as difficult as they imagined when they arrived, for others it is quite the opposite. Especially if we are talking about a job that allows them to grow not only professionally but also personally in a way that contributes to the feeling of belonging and stability.
The Carrefour de Ressources en Interculturel CRIC is a community organization located in the Centre-Sud neighborhood of Montreal that seeks to create bonds of support and solidarity between the Quebec community and families – newcomers.
One of the most representative projects it has carried out for more than a decade and which has had a great impact on the community is called the Femmes-relais interculturelles (FR) project.
This project is aimed at women of mostly immigrant origin who are willing to follow a training and socio-professional insertion program (PSI) in order to feel more confident, informed and settled in this new country.
The women live a significant experience by being part of the Femmes-relais group each year, since while practicing their French in the training spaces with other women in the group, they have the opportunity to guide and accompany families and newcomers in their language of origin.
In general, this project involves a group of 12-14 women from different parts of the world, speaking different languages, who often have a professional degree in their country and significant work experience in their field, but who do not yet have an advanced level of French or sufficient knowledge of how the labor market works, including the famous first work experience in Quebec, which greatly hinders their professional integration.
Every year, in January and August, the CRIC holds information days on the requirements and scope of the project so that immigrant women from different origins who have an intermediate level of French can participate in the project in a comprehensive and subsidized manner.
As it is a training project that projects them towards socio-professional integration, the Femmes- relais also carry out hours of unpaid internships in which they put into practice not only what they have learned, but also the skills and experience they have to help other people. This internship takes place in a professional community setting in Montreal. It is supervised and rigorous, and at the end of the project, a certificate from the Centre de Ressources Educatifs et Pédagogiques (CREP) of the Centre de Service Scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) and one from the CRIC as an Agent de liaison communautaire is awarded.
Each year, an extraordinary group of Femmes-relais graduate from the program and take with them not only the diploma but also a number of experiences lived with their group colleagues, with the people they have accompanied in the framework of their professional practices, with the project partners, with the supervisors and with the people who have guided them in the elaboration of their socio-professional insertion plan (ISP). All this in addition to the bonds of friendship and solidarity that they have built. Finally, they bring with them the collective recognition of their involvement, a more advanced and appropriate level of French and a more detailed knowledge of the professional community environment. This, among others, represents a projection to the continuation of their life story in this new country.
The women-returnees, endowed with a good understanding of the functioning of the host society and the realities related to immigration, can thus contribute to sharing the cultural codes of Quebec, while supporting other immigrants in their migratory process by directing them to the resources corresponding to their needs.
Liliana Alvarez Woo, community organizer of the FR project and reference person to contact for more information.
From my experience, I have a taste for solidarity, for learning to contribute to the integration of newcomers, and above all, I have a deep admiration for those who, like me, one day undertook their life project in this country. .
Lina, Colombian FR
TRAINING RECEIVED
The women inmates receive training on various topics: intercultural communication, the functioning of the Quebec school system, labour standards, community and public resources in the neighbourhood, etc.
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1851 rue Dufresne, app. 1,
Montréal (QC), H2K 3K4
2240 rue Fullum,
Montréal (QC), H2K 3N9
Lundi au vendredi
de 9h à 12h et 13h à 17h
Tél.: 514 525-2778
Fax: 514 523 0450
