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Saamis Employment; same client commitment, soon at a new location

Mar 26, 2021 | 9:24 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB. — After five years at its current location at 422 – 13 street north, Saamis Employment is moving to a new location, at 102 514 Stafford Drive north.

The new location is expected to open on Monday, April 26, with no interruption in service, as they take the weekend to move.

While they will have new offices, they want clients to know that the services they provide will remain the same.

Saamis Employment and Training Association Executive Director, Anita Wagar, explains it is a non-profit organization with a mandate to help indigenous people. It’s operated since 1997 and was incorporated in November of 1998. A Board of Directors and program staff provide clients with Labour Market Training and resources that benefit all Aboriginal People in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge.

“We are an employment and training agency that focuses on providing services to First Nations, Metis and Inuit clients specifically but, we do provide services to anybody who self identifies in those categories. So, if they’re looking for a job, we can help them with doing resumes, cover letters, help them identify potential employers and doing a targeted job search in the community. Often, we have employers calling us and saying we’re hiring these positions, “Can you send us people?”

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Wagar also noted, they actively work to match potential employees with a specific employer.

“We have a job developer with our organization who goes out and works with very specific employers to find out what their need is, so that we can help prepare our clients.”

“For instance, we have an employer that is doing a lot of solar panel installations, so if we know that they’re hiring and those individuals need training in solar panel installation, we will look at obtaining and/or developing that training, to get our clients trained so that they the meet the need and then we send them off to the employer – it’s trying to connect all the dots really, making sure our clients are prepared for the labour market and getting them the training they need.”

In addition to job placement services, Saamis also provides funding for individuals to attend post-secondary programs.

“We provide one year certificate funding – last year of a diploma or last year of a degree. We’ve funded registered nurses and helped them get into the labour market – we’ve funded agricultural students, all the trades, and a couple programs with Lethbridge College for power-line technicians and wind turbine technicians, then assisted them in accessing jobs in those trades.”

Wagar points out that Saamis will fund education for any Alberta industry trade including plumbing, electrical, carpentry and more.

“We’re are currently developing programs for educational assistants and front desk help line support personal because there is demand in the labour market for these positions, we will be recruiting clients in the near future for these programs. We recently partnered with Olds college to provide training to any individuals who want to secure employment as a heavy equipment operator and have started the client recruitment process for 14 individuals out of the Lethbridge area. Olds College will provide the training and we hope to bring them back to our community and match them with employers when they finish their training.”

Saamis also works with employers who offer students a maximum 12-week targeted summer employment, and then provides a subsidy to the employers. As well, they offer employer subsidies if they hire a summer student and are willing to train them on the job. There are some jobs in which you have to be in the industry such as furniture repair, or upholstery to earn, as there may not be formal training.

The summer student programs ae offered through Treaty-7 and the program is funded by an indigenous organization for indigenous people.

According to Wagar, it’s important for Saamis to ensure clients have the training they need to be competitive in the labour market. Their assistance to clients will even provide work gear and transportation.

“There’s a local construction employer that has hired four of our people just lately and they needed to have a safety ticket for construction and they needed specific work gear – we made sure that our clients had that so they could go to work.

“The most important thing we do, is work to ensure our people are prepared for the labour market, have everything that they need to be competitive and at the same time, trying to meet the demand in the labour market. and trying to cater to employers by saying ‘we have these people that are ready to go – look to us and we’ll send you people.”

“We want Indigenous people to know that we’re here to help them become employed and we want employers to know that if they are looking, the indigenous population is the fastest growing population in Canada – and we have qualified, trained people from all backgrounds.”

Wagar says the background of those workers is wide-ranging.

“We have teachers, scientists, a registered nurse, health care workers, retail and restaurant workers, – we have people that want to go to work – they just need an opportunity!”

Saamis clearly fulfills it’s mandate, as testimonials attest on their website Look for Saamis in their new location on Stafford Drive on April 26.

New Stafford location – as of April 26

Saamis on 13th St. North