Newcomers working for CPEs struggle to find housing on PEI.

Originally from the Ivory Coast, Evelyn Botty Lou Tranan arrived on the island on May 4 to work at the CPE Île Enchantée, in Charlottetown.

However, she didn’t expect the rent prices to be so high.

” The rental price is huge! I would really like someone to help me, because I didn’t have all this information. But there, my children arrive, and I have to find a house. »

The educator is staying temporarily in a motel in the island capital and her reservation ends at the end of the week.

Her two children should also join her on Saturday. However, this newcomer is still homeless.

We don’t have enough money when we come, and when we have just fallen into such a situation, it paralyzes usshe adds.

Other workers in the same situation

Other new childcare center employees are also struggling to find housing, according to Yoan Rousseau, recruitment and retention coordinator for the Association of Childcare Centers.

” We are at a point where our ten recruited employees will almost all arrive at the same time. So we try to help all these families find housing, and it always seems so complicated! »

Some of these employees come from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Ivory Coast and Brazil.

Others are from Haiti, but are already in Canada.

According to Yoan Rousseau, the association offers support to its new employees, but the housing crisis makes the task more difficult.

Our role is to provide them with a letter of employment and to assure the owner that they are indeed employed full-time for a long period of time. But the big problem is that the offer is not there! he explains.

A call for help was launched with the community on social networks a few weeks ago in order to find accommodation for these newcomers, underlines Yoan Rousseau.

Rent prices rose 8 per cent last year, the biggest increase in the province in a decade, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The vacancy rate on the island is 1.5%, one of the lowest in the Atlantic.

The inflation rate on the island was 8.9% last March, the highest in the country, according to Statistics Canada.

Remote support

According to Evelyn Botty Lou Tranan, high housing prices were not addressed during her recruitment process.

Her research on the internet already gave an idea of ​​the prices, but she expected to have more options there.

The educator nevertheless points out that the Association of Early Childhood Centers and their work colleagues have offered her support since her arrival.

The motel I live in is out of town, and I don’t have a car. So the director of the CPE sometimes helps me to get around. The bus doesn’t come here, and I can’t afford a taxi all the timeshe says.

According to Yoan Rousseau, it is more difficult to offer remote support when employees are still in their country of origin.

He points out that making the link between landlords and tenants is more difficult, since many of them do not speak English.

Getting in touch with an owner without knowing the language is difficult. They do not necessarily know the housing search tools in Canadaexplains Yoan Rousseau.

He adds that his association offers orientation to its employees on the procedures to follow for the rental as well as translation services if necessary.

Changes in recruiting

Childcare centers are also considering reviewing their recruitment criteria to facilitate the installation of newcomers.

Yoan Rousseau explains that daycare services could soon prioritize applications from more educated educators.

These employees could receive a higher salary, which would allow them to have enough means to pay the costs of living, according to him.

Then, one will have to keep an eye on the composition of the family, because if one recruits a large family, one would have to look for accommodation with more than three bedrooms, which is almost impossible on the island.specifies the recruitment coordinator.