NorQuest’s Indigenous Career Centre Focuses on Relationships, Training, and Employment Opportunity

By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – When the Indigenous Career Centre at NorQuest College first opened its doors in March 2015, it was designed as a pilot project to support Indigenous job seekers navigating cycles of unemployment. What began with modest expectations has since grown into a key employment and training support service helping thousands of Indigenous people across Alberta re-enter the workforce.

According to Sara Cardinal, Manager of the Indigenous Career Centre, the original vision was to provide longer-term support for job seekers as they worked toward stability and employment.

“We were intending to be a longer-term service provider for Indigenous job seekers coming through a cycle of unemployment,” Cardinal says. “Roughly, we thought people would be with us for about two to three months.”

The pilot project initially aimed to support around 300 job seekers over two years. However, shortly after its launch, Alberta entered an economic downturn that reshaped both the labour market and the Centre’s role within it.

“One of the cost-saving measures that industry took was cutting the safety training they offered new hires,” Cardinal explains. “We were seeing large numbers of job seekers that were ready, willing and able to go back to work, but they lacked some of the safety tickets in what had become a very competitive environment.”

In response, the Centre quickly pivoted to meet immediate needs, focusing on short-term interventions that would allow job seekers to return to work more quickly. “Instead of serving those job seekers over a longer-term unemployment cycle, we pivoted to support those who just needed those short-term interventions to help them get back to work,” she says.

That shift dramatically increased demand. Instead of serving 300 participants as planned, the Centre supported more than 1,500 job seekers during its pilot phase alone. “That really allowed us to find our place,” Cardinal says. “We became an unemployment and training provider for the community, providing those short-term interventions to help people as a last stop on their way back to the workforce.”

Today, the Indigenous Career Centre operates with a highly individualized approach, working closely with each client to identify their goals and the specific requirements of the jobs they are pursuing.

“What happens is the job seeker will come to us,” Cardinal explains. “For example, they might be an electrician, and they’ll provide us with three job postings for electrical positions. Those postings will have the tickets required, like confined space or fall protection.”

From there, staff coordinate the necessary training with local providers, ensuring clients can access courses based on their schedules and timelines. “We work with the job seeker to book that training at one of the safety training providers here in the city,” she says. “It’s all based on their schedule – when they’re available to take the training and how quickly they want it to happen.”

For Cardinal, that flexibility is essential to the Centre’s philosophy. “Really, everything we do is individually focused,” she says. “It’s about supporting each job seeker that comes through and working with them to help them get back into the workforce.”

For many clients, the immediate goal is straightforward: getting the support they need to secure employment or take the next step in their careers. “They’re really looking for some support to help get them back to work,” Cardinal says.

Some arrive with job offers already in hand, needing only specific certifications, while others are seeking direction, training, or help translating their skills into strong résumés. “Job seekers will come in with a job confirmation from an employer that’s looking to hire them, and they just need some training,” she says. “Or they know their line of work and they’re looking for some training in order to apply for roles in that area.”

While early programming focused heavily on construction and oil and gas industries, the Centre has expanded significantly over time to support job seekers across a wide range of fields. “When we first opened, we were the Alberta Aboriginal Construction Career Centre, and then we became the Alberta Indigenous Construction Career Centre,” Cardinal says. “But as we expanded beyond construction and oil and gas, we changed our name to the Indigenous Career Centre.”

The change reflects a broader mandate to support Indigenous people pursuing careers in healthcare, social work, administration, and many other sectors. “We wanted to indicate to any job seeker in any area – whether it’s healthcare or social work – that this was a space they could come to for help, for training, and to get to work in the line of work they want to pursue.”

Despite its success, Cardinal says Indigenous job seekers continue to face significant barriers in accessing and maintaining employment. “Depending on the job site and whether it’s accessible by transit, transportation can be an issue,” she says.

Childcare responsibilities and mental health challenges, including grief and loss, are also common barriers for many clients. “We’ve also seen childcare be a barrier for job seekers,” she says. “Some of it is also mental health. Grief and loss can be pretty big barriers for folks to overcome.”

Cardinal also highlights the importance of employer understanding when it comes to workplace transition and cultural adjustment. “I think there’s a lack of understanding of the safety that our communities provide to our people,” she says. “Culture shock is a very real issue for a lot of our job seekers, especially if they haven’t worked in largely non-Indigenous industries or job sites.”

She says adjustment can take time, particularly in workplaces where Indigenous employees may not see cultural representation. “Not seeing anybody that looks like them, not seeing any sort of reflection – or only seeing very small numbers – it can take people a while to become acclimated.”

Despite these challenges, Cardinal says the Centre continues to see strong outcomes, especially when relationships are prioritized in both employment placement and retention. “One of the ways that we found success in the Centre is that we’ve really centered everything around relationship,” she says. “Because we’ve built the relationship with our partners, they trust us to put forward candidates that will meet their needs.”

That trust, she adds, extends to job seekers as well, ensuring support continues after employment begins. “We not only support our job seekers in connecting with employer partners, but we also support retention once they’ve been hired,” she says. “It’s that investment in relationships that really allows us to find success.”

For Cardinal, the work is also deeply personal. She is from Sucker Creek First Nation in Treaty 8, and says her motivation comes from both her family and the guidance of her late father, Harold Cardinal. “When I was young and getting ready to go into university, my late father looked at me and said, ‘Go to school and get an education and do something to help our people.”

That message continues to guide her work today. “What keeps me getting out of bed every morning is my kids,” she says. “I want to see this work be something they can use in the future – where they can go into workplaces that are safe and welcoming for them.”

At its core, the Indigenous Career Centre continues to focus on one central goal: helping Indigenous job seekers move forward with the training, support, and relationships needed to succeed in today’s workforce – while building pathways for the generations that follow.

Learn more about the Indigenous Career Centre at NorQuest College: Indigenous Career Centre – NorQuest College