Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia was created by the merger of Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association (MISA) and Halifax Immigrant Learning Centre (HILC) – together we have a combined experience of over fifty years serving immigrants in Nova Scotia. ISANS recognizes the key role of immigrants in Canadian society. We work with newcomers to help them build a future in Canada. We provide a wide range of services to immigrants, from refugee resettlement to professional programs, from family counselling to English in the Workplace.

Visit ISANS CPRNW project page

Vision:

A community where all can belong and grow.

Mission:

Helping immigrants build a future in Nova Scotia.

The Employment and Bridging team provided employment support services for more than 872 new racially visible immigrant women last fiscal year. The staff at ISANS have been involved in a number of initiatives over the past number of years that have involved working most recently with newcomer women looking to start a business. ISANS also has experience delivering employment services to newcomers, including job development opportunities, connecting job ready clients to employment opportunities, and teaching clients job search skills, and how to write a resume among many other supports.

ISANS is delivering Model 2 – Navigating the Canadian Labour Market pilot. ISANS will offering the program to visible minority newcomer women with university education, higher language levels, and barriers to access the labour market. The program has three components. The 7-week (105 hours) in-class training will cover different topics, with a focus on job search. In addition to digital literacy, participants who have identified gaps in their essential skills will be provided with resources for self-directed enhancement for up to 10 weeks.

This model will be evaluated using random assignment, which means that half of the participants will be randomly assigned to a comparison group and half to the program group. The comparison group participants will be offered 7 weeks of individual employment counselling and are eligible to other ISANS services.