DIVERSEcity helps new residents to navigate life and employment challenges in Surrey
Surrey welcomes 28 new residents every day, and nearly half of the city’s population was born in another country. This makes for one very ethnically diverse city, possibly the most diverse in all of Canada.
To help navigate life and employment challenges, thousands of new Surrey residents have turned to the appropriately named DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society, launched in 1978.
Vandna Joshi, who works as DIVERSEcity’s award-winning director of employment, language programs and social entrepreneurship, speaks passionately and positively about Surrey’s diverse workforce, and also some challenges involved.
“I’m a trained professional, but I had to choose an alternative pathway because the journey to my own profession was really cumbersome,” Joshi says. “I came here 20 years ago (from India), and there were not many programs at that time, but we have come a long way. I think also we need to walk a little bit faster to reach your destination.”
Joshi was a doctor back home, and wanted to get into the medical profession in Canada, “but there were multiple barriers for entry, and I didn’t have a lot of resources. I also had a degree in psychology. Today, here I am, and I absolutely enjoy every bit of what I’m doing, but I’m not sure everybody else can get to that same pathway. It’s just important for people to get settled in their pre-landing occupations because they’ve really worked hard to get those degrees and experience back home.”
While progress on foreign credential recognition has been made over the last decade, more needs to be done, Joshi says. Too many skilled immigrants are being welcomed to Canada based on their education and experience, and then denied the ability to practise their profession and fulfill their potential.
“In Surrey, new immigrants are a huge strength because they have been filling in the labour gaps here and probably all over the country, certainly in our province,” Joshi said. “Surrey receives a very large number of immigrants every year, and they provide various skill sets that are needed for the jobs. Also, we get a lot of entrepreneurs who set up their own business and provide services to the communities that they belong to.”
DIVERSEcity’s team works hard to make sure people get commensurate employment in Surrey, she said, “but we understand being an immigrant to the country, sometimes some people, due to a lot of employment barriers, they might have to settle in transition jobs.”
Currently, the success rate for DIVERSEcity’s employment programs is between 85 to 90 per cent, Joshi noted. “The people that we work with, we give them information around employment resources, job coaching and also provide employment support, to not only the clients but also the employers. We match the employers with the people who participate in our program.”
The Coast Capital Credential Program for Newcomer Women helps them navigate in high-demand fields like health care.
Also, DIVERSEcity recently partnered with Achēv and the Canadian government to launch EVolveSkills: Empowering Tomorrow’s Automotive Workforce Today, a program that aims to bolster Canada’s automotive industry “through providing pathways for individuals to up-skill and be a part of Canada’s green economy,” says Neelam Sahota, DIVERSEcity’s Chief Executive Officer.
Meantime, the Diverse Entrepreneurs Business Incubator, funded by TD, helps entrepreneurial types to get the local information and skills to launch businesses and side hustles. Stats have shown that immigrants turn to self-employment at higher rates than Canadian-born people, and DIVERSEcity is ready and able to help them reach their career goals.
This content is part of the Surrey Economic Development 2025 magazine, produced by Surrey Now-Leader, the Surrey Board of Trade and the South Surrey & White Rock Chamber of Commerce. You can find the full e-edition here.
