One of the things that stuck with me from PACS was looking at the situation and developing solutions.
She was able to take her findings from the classroom, which served as a foundation for her career, and pursued various roles that led her to her current position at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ottawa. She felt that PACS was very transferable to her role at UNHCR and was drawn to the field of work.
Two things inspired me to work with UNHCR – one being that I’ve always wanted to make a difference. The second being solutions–based work: working on something that creates long-lasting solutions for people.
Working at UNHCR gave Sandra the ability to do both. Her role is to work on complementary pathways to Canada – to help implement alternative immigration pathways as a route to Canada. To be more specific, her role is orientated towards refugees – those who had to flee violence, conflict or persecution and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country. Complementary pathways expand options for refugees to come to Canada beyond resettlement, which is important because the scale of displacement is increasing, and traditional solutions are not enough.
Economic immigration pathways hold enormous potential. Of the 400,000 new immigrants Canada is targeting for 2021, more than 50% will be selected because of economic factors (ex: job or trade). Considering this data, Sandra is supporting a small pilot project, making sure that skilled refugees can fit into this economic segment. The project aims to eliminating discrimination and unintentional barriers in recruitment and immigration processes to increase the likelihood of refugees immigrating through employment.
Qualified refugees may be excluded from job-backed immigration opportunities because the recruitment and immigration systems weren’t designed with them in mind. Many refugees do not have valid passports for example– so governments and other stakeholders need to work on a solution to overcome this obstacle.
This act is an inspiration to social activists everywhere as Sandra is not only making society a better place, but deconstructing root issues in various systems – such as screening and recruiting processes in addition to helping those seek refuge in Canada. Her project limits discrimination in the screening process and maximizes the likelihood of immigration through employment.
You don’t know where life will take you. Opportunities will come along.
Sandra indicates that even though that this may be an ideal position for a PACS student, it didn’t just happen. She went through various positions over the years and has currently been in this position for two years. She encourages PACS students to take any PACS opportunities that may come their way – whether it’s an internship, volunteer, part-time position, or a full-time position.
Experience non-pay and volunteer roles to gain the experience in the workforce – it really helps to demonstrate your interest.