Canadian Company Buys Homes for Kenyan Nurses After Employment

Photo collage of one of the homes home bought by MacLeod Group to house Kenya's emigrants (left) and a photo of MacLeod Group's officials when they toured Kenya's Kakuma Refugee Camp.
Photo collage of one of the homes bought by MacLeod Group to house Kenya's emigrants (left) and a photo of MacLeod Group's officials when they toured Kenya's Kakuma Refugee Camp.
CBC/ MacLeod Group

A group of 65 Kenyan nurses recruited to work in Nova Scotia, Canada, will find ready homes to settle in once they arrive in the North American nation.

MacLeod Group, one of the companies involved in the recruitment, announced that the company had bought three homes in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia province, meant to house the Kenyan health workers.

In addition, Doug Stephens, the General Manager of Human Resources at the company, added that it was looking for more homes to accommodate all Kenyans who secured jobs. 

Immigration offices in Canada
A photo of the Immigration offices in Canada.
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IRCC

According to Stephens, the company resolved to prioritize settling the expected immigrants as a way of ensuring that they find an auspicious environment in their new assignment. 

The company stated that the plan was to accommodate the group of health workers within their community. 

"We are doing this to try to retain employees as well," Doug Stephens noted. 

The group of health workers who comprise refugees from the Kakuma refugee camp and Nairobi residents are expected to fly out to Canada to start lives as health workers in the country. 

Canadian agencies turned to Kenya in their search for competencies in healthcare field after years of struggle to find qualified personnel within Canada. 

According to their assessment, Kenya had enough labour force with requisite competencies but struggled to secure employment.

The company's search for qualified persons in Kenya landed them in Kakuma Refugee Camp, where they discovered qualified persons working in trauma centres and in public health.

Once the process of immigration is actualized, the beneficiaries will, according to the recruiting agencies,  work as Continuing Care Assistants pending their certification to work as healthcare workers. 

The program will be one of the now common labour force exports of Kenyan professionals. Other notable programmes include the deal between Kenya and the United Kingdom where over 2,000 slots were secured for Kenyan nurses.

Nurses at the KNH IDU Unit based at Mbagathi participating in a Zumba class on 28th May 2020.
An image of nurses at the Kenyatta National Hospital IDU-Unit based at Mbagathi participating in a Zumba class on 28th May 2020.
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