Over two years ago, Maysaa Faroun came to Edmonton from Syria without speaking a word in English. Maysaa was an Accountant in Syria and was forced to leave due to the Syrian civil war. While she was in Edmonton, a friend who works as an Accountant in Edmonton after going through the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers (EMCN)/NAIT Accountant Bridging Program directed her to EMCN for help.
She took the referral and now has done four months of the nine months Accountant Bridging Program. On December 20, 2018, at the EMCN, Maysaa shared the stage with MP Randy Boissonnault and the Executive Director for EMCN, Eric Ambtman, as MP Boissonnault announced additional $310,000 to EMCN to support programs for visible minority newcomer women to access the job market.
The $310,000 is part of $7 million offered to organizations across Canada by Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada to help women overcome barriers and participate in the Canadian economy.
“…newcomer women are more likely to be unemployed than newcomer men…we wanna help you tear those barriers down…to all the newcomer women, thank you, ‘merci’, ‘shukran’, for all the work you do…,” MP Randy Boissonnault shared with the women present at the hall at EMCN during the announcement.Â
