Iraqi refugee came to P.E.I. hoping to work in a lab. Six years later, her dream has come true

When Warqaa Al-Habesh came to P.E.I. in 2016, she started looking for work in a laboratory. Back home in Baghdad, Iraq, she had studied chemistry at university and worked at a hospital. 

Today, she accomplished what she set out to do six years ago. Al-Habesh started working for a local company this week as a research and development lab technician, thanks to the help of a free training program called Reskilling.

"I don't know how to describe it. It's like a dream. It's really like a dream. Finally, I can work in one of these companies, in one of these labs that I hope one day when I came to Canada to work in," said Al-Habesh.

The program has been offered for over a year by the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL) and the third cohort graduated April 8. Al-Habesh is one of the 15 graduates.

The 12-week course includes an overview of the industry and training in manufacturing and laboratory practices, laboratory science, basic math, data analysis and health and safety.

Before taking part in the course, Al-Habesh had been trying to find jobs in science, but her lack of Canadian qualifications proved to be a barrier. 

And so she wound up working as an Arabic Interpreter, then a tailor, and just before the pandemic, she worked at a Charlottetown dry cleaner, but was laid off when COVID-19 restrictions tightened. 

The certificate she received upon completing the program is invaluable as it allows her to use her skills and past experience, she said. 

"This program gives you a certificate, you can go ahead and find a job," she said. "[It] gave me this opportunity and gave me the hope."

Wendy McIsaac, the program director at CASTL, has heard many stories like Al-Habesh's.

Many newcomers come to the Island with previous work experience in life sciences or pharmaceutical science, and the Reskilling program helps them translate that into similar work on P.E.I., said McIsaac.

"It gives them an opportunity, a doorway, into that sector, a sector that they're already very interested in and passionate about," she said.

McIsaac said since the program was launched a year ago, she has seen more and more newcomers applying to take part. Half of the third cohort that graduated last week were newcomers.

One of them is Dua'a Hindawi, who arrived in P.E.I. about five years ago from Jordan.