From the Promised Land to the Prairies: Opening Doors for New Israelis Starts With Us

By Jana Zalmanowitz 

(AJNews) – For many Israelis arriving in Calgary, the greatest challenges begin after the paperwork is complete. Navigating schools, transportation, and community life can be overwhelming without local guidance. Finding work and establishing long-term roots in Canada can be equally challenging. Recognizing that gap, Calgary resident Miri Renert and a small network of volunteers have stepped in hoping to help new Israeli families not just settle, but thrive.

Renert knows what it’s like to be a newcomer. She was born in Israel and immigrated with her parents to Calgary at the age of 9. She spent 10 years in the city until life took her to other places like England and back to Israel. She had been back in Calgary for a few years when she realized her experiences put her in a unique position to help others.

“After October 7^th, there was the influx of Israelis coming to Canada because of the open work permit that the government granted,” Renert explains. The difficulty was that these work permits were taking time to be processed. Many found themselves arriving in Alberta into a waiting period, living off their savings and with no ability to sign their children up for school. Renert started small, with practical help.

“Knowledge is power,” she explains. “Why do you need to go through this learning curve of everything from getting an Alberta driver’s license, to where do I buy Bamba in Calgary?”

Renert had seen these challenges before, as well as possible solutions. In the 1970s, Israel experienced an influx of Soviet Jewry. “My parents opened up their hearts, and their home and helped them get settled in Israel,” She explains.

Emulating a modern-day version of this hospitality, Renert began connecting with newcomers through online groups and eventually opened her home for Shabbat dinners.

There are resources in our community and people want to help but Renert identified that there is a gap in connecting the two. What began as one person’s effort to answer practical questions has grown into a grassroots network of volunteers helping families access information about transportation, schools, community programs, social connections, and employment resources.

Renert’s assistance often starts before newcomers even land in Calgary. She has become well-versed in offering video calls providing information they will need to get started and also a supportive ear.

Amongst the information she provides, are referrals to formal Jewish community infrastructure in Calgary. These include Jewish family services, and the Jewish day schools. Through these avenues, Israelis new to the city can get connected with practical support like public transportation passes, JCC memberships or school scholarships.

In an effort to more efficiently distribute information and connect people, Renert and three other Israeli volunteers have established a Whatsapp Community dedicated to information sharing amongst Israelis in Calgary. The community acknowledges the diverse needs amongst the Israeli community, offering different subgroups they can join based on their interest.  They include a group for mothers, trips and events, real estate, education and even a marketplace.

While helpful, Renert acknowledges that there are needs that go beyond the here and now into ensuring a successful future. “The foremost needs of the Israeli community in Calgary are primarily finding work and then transitioning from Open Work Permit status to permanent resident status,” Renert emphasizes. Israelis coming to Canada have valuable skills and want to build a life. This goal depends on finding employment and then finding a way to stay beyond their three-year work permit to continue that life.

Again, volunteers have stepped up, helping newcomers network in a place where they don’t have connections to rely on. Renert describes groups dedicated to finding work. One group collects resumes and helps distribute them to appropriate connections within the local Jewish community. Another helps Alberta’s nursing shortage by linking incoming nurses and other healthcare workers with those in the healthcare system.

Even with these connections, there are needs that arise before newcomers can even think about entering the workforce. Some would benefit from individual tutoring in English or French to increase the language proficiency for the workplace but there are no supports within the Jewish community to meet this need.

Employers are also looking for something that is almost impossible for a newcomer: Canadian experience. Renert notes that volunteer work is an ideal place to gain experience while also improving language skills and benefitting the local Jewish community. “Bring in these beautiful people,” she encourages, “With their knowledge, and their desire to volunteer.”

A tangible suggestion that she shares with some others committed to the cause, is to have a community volunteer coordinator.  She envisions this as a central place to gather the names of different Jewish organizations and volunteer roles within them, streamlining the process of connecting need with opportunity.

She stresses that the need extends beyond initial settlement assistance and requires sustained community involvement and networking. Much of this work is being carried out by a small group of volunteers, many of whom are balancing full-time jobs and family responsibilities. As the number of newcomers grows, so does the need for additional community support in both professional and volunteer capacities.

While she would like to see all new Israelis thrive in Calgary, Renert also has a broader hope. “What resonates with me is the fact that I grew up in Calgary, as an Israeli,” she says, “and there has always been a sense of two communities here.” In times where antisemitism is on the rise, we cannot afford to be divided. “Our strength is in our numbers and in our unity and these Israelis have so much to give to enrich our community,” Renert says.

One thing that all Jewish Calgarians share is that at some point, they were a newcomer to the city. Many have stories of those who helped them build their lives in Alberta, away from familiar language, culture and people. Renert emphasizes that while welcoming newcomers socially is important, helping them build professional networks may be the single most valuable way community members can support their long-term success in Calgary. After all, communities are built not only through welcoming newcomers, but through opening doors for them.

For information on how to get involved and become part of this supportive network helping Israeli members of our community, contact albertajewishnews@gmail.com.

Jana Zalmanowitz is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter