One ruined piece of meat showed Steven Mathews that studying and working in Nelson was the right career move.
Mathews was a student in the kitchen at Selkirk College’s culinary management program when he accidentally wrecked specialty meat he was using in a recipe.
At a school or kitchen in India, where he was grew up and received a bachelor’s degree in hotel management before enrolling in Selkirk in 2022, Mathews says he would have been scolded or failed for the mistake.
But Mathews said the Selkirk instructor “took it very calmly. He made me understand. He made me follow the steps again. He gave me a new piece of meat to work with, which was very nice of him and so unexpected as well.”
Mathews says this was his first indication that the Selkirk program was supportive in a way he had never experienced before.
He graduated and is now the kitchen manager at Finley’s Bar and Grill. He also is co-owner of the Florence Food Truck that sells baked goods at Nelson’s farmers markets and will operate as a food truck in Nelson next year. His food truck partner is also a former Selkirk student from India who now works as a pastry chef at a Nelson restaurant.
Mathews has also applied to enter the nursing program at Selkirk College, “because, growing up, I always wanted to go into the medical field.”
Asked if there is more to add to his already-ambitious list of activities and plans, he says, with a modest smile,”That’s it for now.”
Mathews is one of the many international workers in Nelson who graduated from the hospitality, business, and tourism programs at Selkirk College’s Tenth Street campus and then decided to stay in the city.
The program has satisfied the staffing needs of restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, and other businesses in Nelson for a decade. Every class of students has provided a new pool of potential practicum students and future trained employees. But this is coming to an end. Selkirk College is no longer accepting applications for those programs because of immigration limitations imposed by the federal government.
Restaurant and hotel owners in Nelson are wondering if they will find enough staff for their kitchens once the students flow of Selkirk graduates ceases.
Mathews shares this concern. He says not only will the restaurants have fewer applicants under the new rules, but those applicants will won’t be stepping into the job with a bachelors degree from their home country and practical training at Selkirk.
A shortage of skilled labour might mean that many businesses will be short-staffed with people who are untrained and overworked, Mathews says. Businesses will struggle, and “it might even have a small but noticeable impact in the food quality and consistency in the restaurants which will result in less tourists. Small effect, but still over time it can affect the tourism industry in Nelson, and Nelson needs tourists.”
Mathews says under the new immigration rules, he could not have come to Nelson because the Selkirk hospitality programs are no longer eligible, and he would not be able to study elsewhere in Canada because the pre-purchase of a Guaranteed Investment Certificate required of international students has gone up in price from $10,000 to more than $20,000 as of last year.
“I come from a lower middle class family and coming to Canada at that time was a big challenge for me. … Right now it would be impossible.”
Supportive workplaces
Mathews is not alone among former international students in praising the instructional methods at the college programs.
“The amount of support that [Selkirk is] giving to the students, it’s so much,” says Leanne Vegara, housekeeping manager at the Best Western hotel in Nelson. “It’s not only they’re supporting their students for school work, but they’re supporting students to adjust to Canada. So that’s what I really like about them.”
Vegara was offered the manager job at age 25 immediately after graduating from Selkirk. The new job prospect scared her, she says.
“I was so young, and I knew I would be the youngest on the team, so I really doubted myself, but I’m really up to the challenge. … The amount of trust that’s been given me, it gives me lots of confidence.”
Vegara says employer-employee relationships in Canada are very different from the one that is prevalent in the Philippines, her home country.
“Here you can talk to your boss. It’s like you’re the same level. You can talk to the owner. You’re never going to feel that you’re under them.”
Lejani Sunga, the front desk manager at Best Western, is also from the Philippines and graduated from Selkirk.
She and her 18-year-old son began studying at Selkirk College together in 2021 after she graduated in hospitality management in the Philippines while owning a family restaurant there. Her sister and husband continue to run it, and her two other children have since followed her to Canada.
Studying at Selkirk in a second language was hard, she says, because it had been 20 years since she had been in a classroom, but the supportive instructors made the difference.
“That was the struggle for me, because of my age. But the motivation is there because I wanted to rebuild my life here.”
Sunga says the Philippines is actually a multi-cultural country, because of centuries of influence by Spain, China, Japan, and the United States. So communicating with many cultures – both guests and staff – is not new for her. It’s a question of respecting all cultures, she says, adding that her sociable nature is a good fit for her front desk manager job.
“I love talking to everyone. I love communicating to everyone, wherever they came from. And I love educating myself about all those who were born here, how were they raised, how it is for them.”
Sulabh Mahajan feels the same way. One of his two jobs in Nelson is working the front desk at the Adventure Hotel.
“The best part is that you meet new people. This job gives me an opportunity to engage with people.
“For example, today I’m working at the front end. I meet you and we talk. Tomorrow maybe in a grocery store or somewhere else, I’ll see you again. That’s how I build connection with people.”
Mahajan moved here to take the hospitality management program at Selkirk College after getting a bachelors in hospitality management in India and working in hotels there for 11 years.
He said the main adjustments to working in Canada have been practical: learning new workplace software and a new food culture.
His biggest challenge is missing his parents, siblings and extended family in India.
“There is a time during every day when it really hits you hard, when you are all alone, when you miss your family back home.”
But at the same time, he says he is not lonely here.
“I am treated very nicely in this place. People are very welcoming, helpful. I know many families around here. There are people who helped me find my accommodation since I’ve moved out of the student housing. And it was easy for me to find a job.”
Harmon Singh talks about local people in the same way.
Singh arrived in Canada six years ago with a masters degree in chemistry from India. At Selkirk College he completed an associate of arts degree in psychology at the Castlegar campus.
“I love the people here. Every day I get to talk to the people of Nelson, people in Castlegar, and they’re lovely people. And then, this valley is beautiful. It has a very different vibe.”
While he was a student he got a job in the kitchen at Tandoori Indian Grill and Lounge, along with a friend who was a student from India studying culinary management. Then the pair bought the restaurant. By that time Singh says he was already familiar with Canadian culture and was able to easily navigate the purchase.
“I was flabbergasted that this opportunity was coming my way,” he says.
He likes the way Canadians do business and the way the society works.
“I like the professionalism. People know what they need to do. They’re very clear, they’re very straightforward. So I just love the way the Canadians do things.”