Immigrants to New Brunswick starting businesses and filling gaps in workforce

Two New Brunswick cities were helping newcomers to the province Thursday, one city focusedon those with new businesses, whilethe other held a job fair forimmigrants.

In Saint John, entrepreneurs originally from several different countries were recognized at the International Business Showcase Mixer.

Held at the Kent Theatre, the event was open to anyone interested in meeting some of the people creating jobs in that city.

The businesses were as varied as the countries of origin.

The entrepreneurs came from such places as Egypt, Haiti, Peru and Vietnam, and have started restaurants, a graphic design firm, a company specializing in fishing gear, and more.

Vy Le Nguyen is a civil engineer from Ho Chi Minh City, but her credentials aren't recognized here, so she built herself a bakery.

Business success stories

"Oh, I'm doing really, really good," she said about her business.

Le Nguyen said her first year was a learning curve, driven, in part, by customer feedback, and now she feels she has something to share.

"Maybe I can give some advice to newcomers who come here," she offered.

Alena Shatalova said support makes the difference.

Her Ukraininan community has grown from four families two decades ago, to more than she can count.

"We have very close friends, about 60, including children," she said. "But now in Saint John, we have so many people who can speak Ukrainian and Russian, we don't even know."

In Moncton, thecity held the first of a two-day job fair for newcomers and international students, at the Empress Theatre.

It was split into a variety of fields at different times, including manufacturing, and health and wellness, with dozens of companies participating.

Help wanted

The goal is to connect unemployed or underemployed newcomers with jobs and businesses looking for new talent with employees.

"We have a declining birth rate in the province of New Brunswick, and we actually have low unemployment rates in Greater Moncton," said Angelique Reddy-Kalala, ImmmigrationStrategy Officer with the city.

"What we're essentially trying to do is both support local employers as well as provide opportunities to newcomers to be able to meet face-to-face with these employers."

Friday's employers include hospitality, retail, financial, insurance and customer service employers.