The Central Alberta Refugee Effort has received some funding from the Province, to help local employers attract skilled immigrant workers to their companies.

C.A.R.E. will see $100,000 from the government, to put towards their programming that works to give immigrants the tools they need to get jobs, and employers the information required to hire these new Canadians.

Executive Director Frank Bauer says the biggest misconception about refugees is that they're poor, and unskilled.

"If you could imagine that suddenly we have something terrible happen in Central Alberta and we all have to flee. We all take our education and work experience with us. It's not by definition that refugees are poor people with no education. They all had a good life, but at some point had to drop everything and run for their life."

Bauer says many of the immigrants coming in to use their programming are already highly trained; they just need adjusting to the jobs here.

"A Civil Engineer from the Middle East might be different from a Civil Engineer in Central Alberta. But still that person could bring very valuable skills and insights. So we're trying to get these businesses to recognize, and utilize that."

Bauer says the biggest challenge facing these new immigrant workers, is getting a firm command of speaking English.