Driving lessons to help Sask. immigrants and refugees find a job

Learning therules of the road is hard enough but some new immigrants in Saskatchewan face additional challenges when trying to get their driver's licence.

On Wednesday, Sherwood Chevrolet donated $5,000 to the Saskatoon Open Door Society for10 new residents and refugees to get driving lessons to help them find a job.

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"There are many positions where driving is an essential duty of the job or is required to commute to more remote workplaces," said Saskatoon Open Door Society executive director Ali Abukar.

"Obtaining a driver's licence is often a requirement for employability and has significant cumulative costs."

A different driving landscape

Many new residents have come from countries where motorists use the left-hand side of the road, while others must overcome a language barrier to learn the new road rules.

Naveed Anjum, who moved from Pakistan to Canada in 2007, now helps immigrants and refugees get behind the wheel as the instructor and owner of Student Car Service Inc. in Saskatoon.

"I myself was an immigrant from Pakistan and so I felt the need, that why not I service the people who are same like me and come here and face the challenges, especially in Canada and in Saskatoon," he said.

Anjum said having a car in Saskatoon was a necessity for some because some areas were not covered by bus routes.

Overcoming differences

He said the biggest reasons drivingin Canada was different from Pakistan werethe right-hand driving system and themore orderly driving system.

"[In Pakistan] we have too many vehicles on the road there so lane control is not possible there, people sometimes violate the lane control," he said.

To qualify for the Open Door Society's program, newcomers willneed to be eligible to access the society's employment programs, and they must have a valid driver's licence to achieve their long-term career goal.