Keane Canada has gone out of its way to accommodate new Canadians as part of its growing workforce.

"As a globally diversified company, we’ve got a pretty robust diversity policy," Jason Powell, Keane Canada’s managing director, said in an interview in Halifax on Thursday after the company announced plans to add 375 people to its Halifax staff over five years with provincial government support.

"Our employees here work literally with people all over the world, so we have a very sort of global bias," he said. "So for us to bring new Canadians in-house, it’s actually pretty easy for us based on the culture we’ve built here."

Mr. Powell said Keane has taken a number of steps to help new Canadian employees adjust to their sometimes unfamiliar surroundings.

"We try to celebrate different cultural events," he said, estimating that almost 30 per cent of Keane Canada’s workforce is made up of new Canadians, which the company identifies as employees not born in Canada.

"In the fall, we celebrated the Indian festival of lights, and some of the folks that are originally from India came in and did some of the traditional dress and some of the traditional foods," he said. "We’ve also got a quiet room that’s set aside for people for whatever need they may have based on a religious need or an ethnic need."

Priti Bhade came to Canada from India 11 years ago for consulting job opportunities. She worked in Montreal and on contract in Regina before joining Keane in Halifax full time in 2000...

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