Career fair to promote diversity in emergency work for Black History Month
Posted February 25, 2023 2:31 pm.
Last Updated February 25, 2023 6:23 pm.
As a nod to Black History Month, Montreal police invited 13 other emergency and public service organizations to Centre Lasallien in Saint-Michel to speak with students about what emergency work is like. The aim, to recruit diverse people and promote diversity among emergency responders.
“We really need to recognize all what the black population of Montreal does for Montreal. So, all the Montrealers that are that come from those different groups are very involved and we rarely recognize them, I think,” says Anik St-Pierre, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion advisor, Montreal Fire Department.
Adding, “so that’s why we wanted to create the event for Black History Month and give them a voice, give them a place to meet with us and hopefully to recruit more members from different communities in our services.
“The more diverse the teams are, we find different options. We’re able to interact with the population a lot better. So, this is why we do so much efforts and it’s really a priority for us.”
The 14 organizations involved include Urgences-Santé, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as the Société de transport de Montréal. The goal of the event labeled ‘Diversity in Uniform’ is to help high school and college students discover different career paths as first responders. As well as connect them with people from underrepresented groups with insight on working in public service.
“We want to demystify with them emergency services around Montreal. We want to reflect the population so we want exactly to be as much as we can the mirror of the society we’re living. It shows trust. You can trust if you can see yourself in the system, if you have a role model in the system,” said Jacquis Begin, Recruitment officer, SPVM.
Montreal police officer Claude-Jules Guillaume says he came to the same event in 2020 to learn more about the 160 different job functions and programs at the SPVM.
“Here I am, a police officer now,” said Guillaume.
We want to be close to the public. We want to be close to the population that we serve. So, it’s always a big win for all the organizations that come with us,” said St-Pierre
In case you missed it, the SPVM and the Centre Lasallien hold similar recruitment events and mentorship programs are now being held throughout the year.
