For Hamzah, moving to Canada to work was his ‘dream finally coming to life’
Pictured: Engineer and Syrian Refugee Hamzah stands in front of SigmaPoint’s office in Cornwall, Ontario.
How it started
For Hamzah, the dream of becoming an engineer had always been top of mind when he first moved from his hometown, Daraa, to Aleppo for university in 2009. But before he could make that dream a reality, Hamzah was blindsided by the rapidly deteriorating situation in Syria due to the civil war.
Hamzah found himself in Jordan instead, where his refugee status made it difficult for him and his family to build a life.
“We don’t have permission to work as engineers in Jordan,” Hamzah says. “I started to work as a robotics teacher at international schools. Then, I got the opportunity to work illegally as a product engineer with a low wage. It was a good experience for me at that time.”
Despite the setback, Hamzah was still determined to forge his future. He knew he just needed the right opportunity to prove himself.
A talent gap in Cornwall
In Cornwall, Ontario, a friendly riverside city resting on the Canada-U.S. border, SigmaPoint co-founder Tom Kaneb grapples with a significant workforce issue: engineers are in high demand and short supply in Canada and North America.
“You could go out and try to hire, but you’re going to be taking someone from another employer,” Tom said. “In a tight labour market, it doesn’t increase the supply.”
SigmaPoint, a Canadian electronic manufacturing company, needed more talent to continue its growth and service more clients. They were looking for alternative workforce solutions that would address sector-wide labour shortages.
When Tom stumbled on Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB), it immediately piqued his interest.
Tom quickly contacted TBB about filling several process engineering roles in their organization. From there, TBB collaborated with SigmaPoint to find candidates to meet their workforce needs.
The right opportunity
Hamzah first heard about TBB in 2016 when he participated in a UNHCR workshop about connecting refugees with international employment opportunities in Canada, the UK, and Australia. He immediately submitted his profile to the Talent Catalog and hoped an employer would be interested in his skills.
“I’m not going to lie. I updated my application on the platform daily,” Hamzah says. “I benefited from access to online learning platforms such as Coursera, and I was lucky to take a three-month intensive course to improve and strengthen my English skills.”
In March 2021, Hamzah received an email that would change his life. TBB had sent many CVs from the Talent Catalog to SigmaPoint, and Hamzah was among the shortlisted candidates to be interviewed. He was ecstatic.
TBB supported Hamzah throughout the application process, helping him update his CV and offering mock interviews before his interview with SigmaPoint.
For Tom, hiring Hamzah was a no-brainer.
“[The hiring process] was very smooth and involved no more effort on our part than hiring a Canadian,” Tom says. “They exceeded expectations, and from what I can tell, the engineering education they received was at least on par with engineering schools here in Canada.”
When Hamzah received a job offer from Tom two months later, it felt like his effort finally paid off.
“I was waiting for a long time for this moment; it was unbelievable for me,” Hamzah shared. “I didn’t have any answer except for saying “yes, for sure!”
Pictured: Hamzah and his family are welcomed to Canada by SigmaPoint’s Tom and Gail Kaneb and TBB’s Lara Dyer and Callan Furlong.
A new life in Canada
Hamzah arrived in Canada via Montreal with his wife and daughter a year later, a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Once he arrived, Tom and the SigmaPoint team warmly welcomed him — providing accommodations for the first five months and orienting Hamzah and his family to life in Ontario.
“The working environment [at SigmaPoint] is amicable. My colleagues were very supportive and were willing to give any information I needed, even until now,” Hamzah says.
Tom found that hiring with TBB was the right decision for SigmaPoint.
“Hamzah was a great fit. He was completely fluent and spent a lot of time researching electronics and manufacturing in all aspects. He hit the ground running,” Tom says.
For Hamzah, moving to Canada to work was his “dream finally coming to life.”
“For the first time in my life, I work under labour laws,” Hamzah says.
Reflecting on his experience, Tom strongly encouraged other employers to consider filling their talent gaps with TBB.
“If you have to compare it to using a recruiter, it’s way cheaper. But that’s not the proper measure,” Tom shared. “The proper measure is — did you find a good employee who adds value to your company? With TBB, there’s no question.”
