Jamal’s Story

We love sharing client stories!  

Jamal is a refugee from Syria who came to Canada with his family in 2018. He had good work experience as a bus driver and limited English language skills upon arrival to Canada.  Jamal immediately started attending ESL classes to improve his English language skills. 

Jamal first came to KWMC looking for some settlement support. He was referred to our Pre-Employment Program and attended our “First Job in Canada” workshop, “Health and Safety Awareness in 4 Steps” and WHMIS Symbols trainings to become job ready.  

Jamal’s employment counsellor helped him apply for a position at Linamar. After the job interview, he was hired by Linamar as a full-time machine operator and forklift operator. After working for Linamar for about two years, he was laid off due to the COVID 19 pandemic. 

Jamal reconnected with his employment counsellor at KWMC to get support updating his resume and applying for jobs in the manufacturing field, but due to the pandemic there were not enough opportunities. A few months later, he was hired by Toyota Boshoku as a full-time forklift operator. 

The fact that Jamal is able to work and support his family in his mid-sixties makes him very happy and proud of himself.