The construction industry recruits refugees in the Middle East

Halifax-based company participates in trade fair with Nova Scotia government employment in Jordan.

Refugees cycle on June 17, 2021 in Zaatari camp, on the outskirts of Mafraq town in northern Jordan. Built in 2012 to house refugees from the war in Syria, this camp now houses more than 80,000 people.

Nova Scotia's construction industry is turning to construction Middle East to hire workers.

Dora Construction will accompany provincial government delegates to Amman, Jordan, March 6-10, where a Mobility Summit is taking place refugee workers.

The Halifax-based company hopes to recruit up to 25 workers at the job fair.

Besty Sisco, part of Dora Construction's recruiting team, says that there is a well-documented shortage of construction workers across Canada and in Nova Scotia.

The company says it has difficulty hiring workers in Canada.

Cement workers and carpenters are especially in demand in Nova Scotia, says Betsy Sisco.

I should have about 25 people interviewing. Most are Syrian refugees with excellent qualifications, she says.

Several of them are in Zaatari camp in northern Jordan, where currently more than 80,000 refugees from the war in Syria.

Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan, June 17, 2021.

Betsy Sisco adds that the company has already verified that the candidates it hopes to attract in Jordan are eligible for the Economic Mobility Pathway Pilot Project, a federal program aimed at facilitate economic immigration by accelerating the employment and resettlement of refugees.

The immigration process for these workers is expected to take six to nine months.

Residential construction in a suburb of Halifax, Nova Scotia on May 31, 2022.

A team from McLeod Group Health Services, a private operator of nursing homes and retirement residences in Antigonish, Annapolis Royal and Windsor, Nova Scotia will also be heading to the Jordan Career Fair next week with the provincial Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration.

The group recently recruited about 50 health workers during a similar recruitment mission in Kenya.

According to the reporting by Gareth Hampshire, CBC