Moncton wants international students to stay around after graduation

The City of Moncton is hoping to encourage international students to stay on after they graduate.

A job fair focusing on international students drew a large crowd on Friday,featuring19 employers with about 200 job opportunities,including post-grad employment, co-op placements and summer employment.

International students are encouraged to learn both official languages and get involved in the community, saidAngelique Reddy-Kalala,the immigration strategy officer with the city.

"Really increasing their networking so getting involved with organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, volunteering in the communityit's really a lot of that informal labour market activities," she said.

That's advice Christian Kalnde followed. Kalnde left his home in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012 to attend the University of Moncton.

He became the president of an international students group, which helped him meet a lot of people.

"When you come in Moncton people grab your hand and they come to say, 'Oh thank you for coming,hello', and that like impressed for me," said Kalnde.

23-year-old Kalnde will be graduating in May with a degree in business administration, and came to the fair looking for full-time work.

Among the employers is Nat Richard, the Director of Corporate Affairs for Westmorland Fisheries, a lobster processor based in Cap-Pel.

During peak season about 425 people work there. Richard says the international students job fair is a good fit for the company.

"We use a lot of temporary foreign workers. Our work force is very international in scope," he said. "We have a lot of Mexicans, a lot of Filipinos, a lot of Jamaicans and of course a lot of Acadians and anglophones as well, so it's a very diverse work force."

The fair featureda number of other opportunities, including banking, insurance and education.

Christian Kalnde thinks many of his fellow international students will consider staying in Moncton.

"You have an affection to the country." he said. "Some international students want to stay here but it's just jobs, you can justify when you want to stay here."

As for his own future, asked if he'll stay in Moncton, Kalnde is quick to answer.

"Absolutely...Absolutely."