Belleville council has unanimously voted to support the creation of a Workplace Inclusion Charter.
Cat Fisher-Andrews of Quinte Immigration Services explained what the charter’s goal would be at council’s meeting Monday.
“So it’s a declaration signed and committed to by Belleville employers and community agencies to create and uphold inclusive workplaces advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our region.”
Fisher-Andrews said immigrants continue to face discrimination when it comes to hiring even as their population continues to increase at 3 times the rate of that of the homegrown population. She stressed there are definite advantages to hiring newcomers and minorities.
“Equity diversity and inclusion has been proven to improve talent acquisition, profitability, opportunities to break into new markets, and improve employee’s satisfaction and engagement.”
At Loyalist College the number of international students has grown from 85 in 2015 to over 1,200 today.
Also speaking to council was a Ukrainian woman who recently fled her war-torn homeland who said that the Ukrainian immigrant population would continue to grow across Canada and locally over the next few years and asked that employers consider hiring them, saying they were often highly skilled and more than ready and willing to work.
Through the Belleville Workplace Inclusion Charter employers will be given the tools necessary to formulate a plan and the city will be reaching out to employers and other organizations informing them of the charter in the near future.
The federal government is already offering a similar program called “50-30 Challenge”.
