Employment support centre gives hope to Nunavik youth

Ivirtivik Centre North, in Inukjuak, has been offering employment support and training to unemployed Inuit since 2013, alongside its sister centre in Montreal. (PHOTO COURTESY OF T. LEAVEY)

Tamussie Echalook, and John Nowra, both participants at the Ivirtivik employment support centre in Inukjuak, carve a pumpkin together last month. Both youth have been looking for work since their previous job contracts ended. (PHOTO COURTESY OF T. LEAVEY)

Tamussie Echalook is a typical Inukjuak youth: he likes to hang out with friends, play hockey and hunt.

But the 18-year-old, who recently completed his studies at Innalik school, is also at a crossroads in his life. He needs to find work, to support himself or to support future studies.

And that’s not always easy in this Hudson coast community, which suffers from Nunavik’s highest unemployment rate.

Fortunately for him, Echalook gets to do a lot of favourite activities as part of the job hunt, while enrolled at Ivirtivik Centre North, a local employment support and training organization.

“I’ve been here for about five months, and I came here because I need more job experience,” Echalook said. “I’m really trying to find a full-time job.”

Echalook finished Secondary 3 (Grade 9) at Innalik school, before moving to the Individualized Learning Pathways program, from which he graduated earlier this year.

He was working as replacement staff at Inukjuak’s youth centre for awhile, until he said that work ran out.

The Kativik Regional Government-run and Quebec-funded Ivirtivik, like its sister centre in Montreal, offers support to unemployed Inukjuamiut, from help drafting a resumé, securing the proper identification cards, French lessons and teaching other job-related skills.

The group gets access to the local job market through volunteering and internships, led by Ivirtivik’s employment counsellors.

Since the centre opened in 2013, up to 12 participants can enroll at Ivirtivik Centre North for up to a six-month period. Participants are expected to attend full-time during the week; each receives $13.75 an hour.

Echalook still isn’t sure what type of work he’s looking for — but he says he enjoys volunteering at the co-op.

But he said he considers his time at Ivirtivik worthwhile for the social job skills it offers.

“I’m trying to work on being on time,” Echalook said.

His friend and Ivirtivik co-participant John Nowra has a clearer idea of what he wants to do: operate heavy equipment.

But it’s taking him longer to reach that goal; Nowra’s been enrolled at Ivirtivik on and off for the last nine months, and he’s yet to enroll in any other training programs.

He also did replacement work as a night guard at Inukjuak’s adult education student residence, but that contract ended, leaving the 20-year-old without any income.

Nowra is shy and soft-spoken over the phone, but he said he is drawn to Ivirtivik for its social environment and the daily activities.

Just last week, Ivirtivik’s eight participants went over to the soup kitchen to prepare a caribou stew, which the group then distributed to 70 families in the community.

Other days they volunteer at local businesses or the airport, play sports, go fishing or head out berry picking.

All those activities contribute either to the participant’s resumé, communications skills or self-worth, said employment counsellor Tiffany Leavey.

Leavey said participants take at least three to four months to find work, usually with the major employers in Inukjuak, such as the KRG, the local co-op, Northern store, the Kativik School Board, or the airport.

Occasionally, participants will look for help getting hired at mine sites in the region, on in other communities, even in Montreal, she said.

But the profile of Ivirtivik’s participants share a common thread, said the centre’s animator, Abilie Idlout: they are often in their 20s, and often young men.

“Most people here have quit school, so lack that education,” he said. “Or they find jobs and can’t keep them. So they come here to learn some job skills.”

You can find more information on Ivirtivik’s services here.