Help wanted: Ottawa businesses looking to hire Ukrainians fleeing war

A growing number of Ottawa residents have opened their homes to people fleeing war in Ukraine, and now some local businesses are offering the newcomers employment, too.

Facebook groups dedicated to finding temporary housing and other support for the Ukrainians who have already started arriving are also filling up with help job offers, including one posted on the weekend by Robin Armstrong, owner of Maison Noi,a hair salon on Sherwood Drive near Carling Avenue.

We're just trying to help each other and trying to stay strong.- Anna Kamsha, School of Modern Dance

Armstrong said the idea came when he and his wife began discussing ways to help Ukrainians escaping the ongoing brutality of the Russian invasion.

He said the salon, which opened just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, has had difficulty filling vacant positions four stylists currently work there, but Armstrong said he'd like to have six on staff so they arrived at a solution that could benefit everyone involved.

• Ottawans open their doors to Ukrainians fleeing Russian invasion

"A lot of salons in Ottawa are hiring and have had a hard time finding stylists," Armstrong explained. "The two needs aligned."

Ideally, Maison Noi is looking for experienced stylists, but Armstrong, who's also a part-timeinstructor at Algonquin College, said he's willing to offer some training,or connect Ukrainian job seekers with other potential employers.

Basic English skills

While he's looking for employees with at least basic English skills, Armstrong noted none of his current staffspeaks English as a first language.

"Really we're just looking for kind people who we can workwith and integrate into the culture of our team," he said. "We're happy to get them up to speed if they aren't yet."

Another Ottawa salon owner,Kayleigh Stroz, has made a similar offerand could meet her newest hire this week.

Stroznoticed a message on a different Facebook group from a Ukrainian pilot who said he and his girlfriend, a flight attendant, would be arriving in Ottawa as early as Tuesday and looking for immediate employment.

Stroz connected the man with a friend who owns an Ottawa landscaping businessand has offered the woman a job as anassistant/receptionist at Wild & Free Hair Boutique on Innes Road in Orlans. They plan to meet at the salon as soon as Wednesday or Thursday.

"She's in customer service, so she might be interested," saidStroz, whose own father is from Ukraine. "If that's just a starting-off point for her, I'm totally fine with that."

Dance instructors wanted

Like Armstrong, Strozsaid she saw an opportunity both for her business and for the people she's helping.

"We can use the help, but at the same time I'm trying to do whatever I can do to help," she said.

Anna Kamsha, owner of Ottawa's School of Modern Dance in Kanata, is also looking to hire Ukrainian newcomersand posted a job offer in the same Facebook group as Armstrong.

Kamshaherself was born and raised in Ukraine and came to Canada 16 years ago, and said most of her instructors and many of her students are of Ukrainian background.

"I know that Ukrainian dancers and teachers are great," said Kamsha, who's offering part-time employment to qualified instructors, as well as free spots in the dance school's summer camps to Ukrainian childrenand volunteer opportunities toteens.

"I'm hoping we're going to get more, and I'll be able to help more people."

Kamsha said she's so far had one response to her job offer a woman from the hard-hit eastern city ofKharkivwho expects to arrive in Ottawa in mid-April.

While both Ukrainian job seekers and potential employers are connecting informally through Facebook and other social media sites, the federal government has launched an online job bank withresources for Ukrainians seeking work in Canada, potential employers and community support groups.

Ontario has pledged similar help, and has established a hotlinefor Ukrainian job seekers and employers with vacancies.

Under special measures introduced by the Canadian government last month, Ukrainians can applyfor an open work permit with their visa application, allowing them to seek employment as soon as they arrive.

Vetting the offers

OlenkaReshitnyk-Bastian, a co-ordinator with the Ottawa chapter of the UkrainianCanadianCongress, said her organization has been fielding job offers as well as offers of accommodation and other aid, and has been vetting each one carefully.

"I just hope that whether it's people who are being offered jobs or offered housing that it's safe," she said."As far as employers, there isn't a lot of vetting occurring right now. How do you vet an employer who just says, 'I have a job for you,' through Facebook?"

While she applauds any effort to help, Reshitnyk-Bastian points out that many of the new arrivals will have recently experienced trauma and might need time to look after their own basic needs and those of their families, before hunting for work.

"You can't just join a society without first processing what's just occurred in your own life," she said.

In at least one Facebook group devoted to helping Ukrainians resettle in Ottawa, administrators have been intervening whenever someone offers accommodation in exchange for child care or housework, reminding them that such arrangements are against the group's rulesand could potentially contravene labour laws.

ForKamsha, the war in Ukraine has also hit close to home:She learned on the weekend that a friend had been killed in the fightingand said one of her adult students has been unable to reach her motherfor a week.

"It's very challenging times right now for all of us, and we're just trying to help each other and trying to stay strong."