Refugee families are 'settling well,' aid group says

From providing tips on braving a Saskatchewan winter to enrolling children in schools,the Regina Open Door Society has been among the many groups providing help to Syrian refugeesas families launch their new lives in Canada.

"The families are settling well," said GetachewWoldeyesus, settlement and family services manager with the Open Door Society. "But there are, of course, some challenges."

• 'We can restart our life': Syrian refugee happy to be in Saskatchewan

Woldeyesus said most of the adult newcomers are taking language classes and children are settling in at their schools. He said many youngsters have progressed rapidly with their language skills.

"When talking to them, you would feel that they'd been here a very long time," he said.

Efforts are also underway to find employment for newcomers, including work in their fields of expertise.

There's a lot of talent, skills and abilities that our province could benefit from.- Getachew Woldeyesus, Regina Open Door Societysettlement and family services manager

"Foreign credentials recognition is a huge issue," Woldeyesus said. "It's not uncommon to find people that are not working in their field or under-employed."

He said that some work opportunities require language skills that many of the refugees have yet to attain.

"There's a lot of talent, skills and abilities that our province could benefit from, from this group of newcomers," he said. "We are really hoping that employers will continue to work with us."

Tutors help through library program

One of the places providing language assistance is the Regina Public Library, which matches volunteer tutors with people learning English.

Literacy supervisorAlice Samkoe said Reginans were quick to respond to requests for additional volunteers. The library went from a pool of 130 tutors in December 2015 to 250 by March.

The library has publishedits tutor-training course online, which allows anyone in the province, through self-study, to provide language assistance to immigrants.

• EXTERNAL LINK: Regina Public Library ESL Online Tutor Training Tool

"Anyone in Saskatchewan can ... take the online tutor training course and help their neighbour or help somebody in their church or at work who is struggling with English," Samkoe said.

Other adjustments

When it comes to meeting household expenses, Woldeyesussaid families are coping with government assistance.

The Open Door Society is also working with local health resources to address any mental health needs of the refugees.

"We could use a lot of support in the mental health front, service-wise," he said.

It's estimated that about 480 Syrian refugees arrived in Regina since settlement efforts were ramped up about a year ago.