Kitchen skills: Syrian refugee preps a new dream in Algonquin’s culinary labs

Posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2018

Samir Masoud and his family arrived in Canada from war-ravaged Syria in the summer of 2016, knowing little of their new country, but happy to be safe.

A year later both Masoud and his wife were Algonquin graduates much closer to their dream of starting their own business in Ottawa.

The couple were among the first graduates of a unique college program, Culinary and Job Skills for Newcomers to Canada. The program, which combines food preparation courses with job readiness training, was designed specifically in response to the influx of Syrian refugees.

Since that first course, Masoud has taken a related course in baking, and found work in the kitchen of a local cafeteria. Eventually, he and his wife hope to open a small, family- run Syrian restaurant.

The program, says Masoud, “means so much to me. It gives me experience … (and) the rules for how to work in a restaurant.”

But the program’s lessons went well beyond food preparation. “Everything is new here … so this course (teaches) us about everything new: the traditions, the civilization here in Canada, to know everything that’s going on in restaurants, and how (things work) here.”

Masoud has high praise for the program’s culinary courses, especially the state-of-the-art kitchens in which they are taught and the skilled chefs who teach them.

“You can learn everything because they have all the equipment,” he says. “(The professors) are so good. They give us very good information. They have been patient with us. So, thank you very much.”

The program was the brainchild of Snezana Minic, language programs manager for the Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre. Minic’s work brought her in contact with Syrian refugees, many of whom, she noticed, had a passion for cooking. She pitched the idea to Wes Wilkinson, professor of culinary management in Algonquin’s School of Hospitality and Tourism, who was immediately on board.

Masoud says he was particularly interested in the baking course he took, and he continues to make baguettes and paninis at home.

“I’m lucky to be in this course because it gives me more experience,” Masoud says. It also makes the long-term goal make running his own restaurant more feasible.

But then Masoud also regards his Algonquin experience as reflective of the warm reception he’s received in his new home.

“I and my family, all the newcomers, we’ve been talking about these things. We have (met) good people. They always smile, they give us hope, chances … They give us a nice welcome to be in Canada.”


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