Careers

Founded on the conviction that ‘healing is an act of resistance’, for 35 years VAST has employed a province-leading model of trauma-informed mental health service provision. Our work has created and sustained a resilient, inclusive community amongst newcomers, and over More than half of our team identify as survivors themselves, and their voices are represented at all levels of our organization.

We do not believe in working alone, and our mission supports a range of advocacy and capacity building activities to strengthen BC’s mental health sector for newcomers, and encourage understanding of our work amongst government institutions. In so doing, we relieve demand on the BC healthcare sector, especially in dense urban and more isolated rural areas of BC.

VAST is more than a healthcare provider and is known throughout BC as a convener of voices with lived experience of torture and trauma, and an influential advisor to multiple levels of policy makers and practitioners.

Open positions

Please look at the respective job descriptions for more details on each position.

Administrative Associate

We are looking for candidates for a full-time Administrative Associate position in our Trauma Recovery & Torture Rehabiliation organization. We are looking for candidates with trauma-related education, training, experience (preferably working with forced migrants and refugees), and lived experience. Fluency in a second language is an asset. Applicants must be eligible to work in Canada.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Communications Associate

We are looking for candidates for a Communications Associate position in our Trauma Recovery & Torture Rehabiliation organization. We are looking for candidates with trauma-related education, training, experience (preferably working with forced migrants and refugees), and lived experience.
Fluency in a second language is an asset. Applicants must be eligible to work in Canada.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Interpreter (multiple languages) Job Posting

We are looking for candidates for Interpreter positions in our Trauma Recovery & Torture Rehabilitation organization. We are open to all relevant languages, but specifically looking for Hebrew, Indonesian, Korean, Pashto, Tigrinya, and Russian speaking candidates. We are looking for candidates with trauma-related education, training, experience (preferably working with forced migrants and refugees), and lived experience. Applicants must be eligible to work in Canada.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Trauma Therapist _ Clinical Counsellor

We are looking for candidates for Counselor positions in our Trauma Recovery & Torture Rehabilitation organization. We are open to all relevant languages, but specifically looking for Arabic-speaking, Ukrainian-speaking, Russian-speaking, and Dari-speaking candidates. We are looking for Masters Level Counsellors, Expressive Arts Therapists, Psychologists, or Social Workers with relevant trauma-related education, training, experience (preferably working with forced migrants and refugees), and lived experience. Applicants must be eligible to work in Canada.

JOB DESCRIPTION

How to apply

Please send us your resume via email to hr@vast-vancouver.ca or by using the button below.

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About the organization

In 1986, a small group of human rights activists and mental health workers gathered in Vancouver to support the flood of refugees arriving from the armed conflicts in South and Central America. They founded the Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture (VAST), and this dedicated group of volunteers built what would become BC’s largest center for refugee mental health. Today, VAST works with refugees from over 100 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Our programs and services are offered in over a dozen languages, including Arabic, Farsi, French, Mandarin, and Spanish. We support the mental health of refugees who arrive in British Columbia with psychological trauma as a result of torture, political violence, and other forms of persecution on the basis of race, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
We facilitate the healing process for 1,000 survivors of torture each year, and their families, by providingaccessible and culturally appropriate individual and group counselling and therapeutic services. We alsoprovide psycho-legal documentation and support refugee claimants through the asylum process, and arecalled in to work with Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada when their particular situation requires oursupport. Canada is a signatory to the UN’s Convention Against Torture (1985), and the RefugeeConvention (1951), both of which oblige us to protect the rights of survivors of forced displacement,including the Right to Rehabilitation, and to provide safe haven to those who at risk of persecution. VASTis an active member of the International Rehabilitation Council for Victims of Torture (IRCT), theCanadian Council for Refugees (CCR), and the Canadian Network for Survivors of Torture and Trauma(CNSTT).

Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture (VAST) Fund Welcome to the Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture (VAST) Endowment Fund with the Vancouver Foundation: VAST is BC's largest centre for refugee and newcomer mental health, and supports individuals who arrive in BC with psychological trauma and vulnerable status.  Founded on the conviction that healing is an act of resistance, for 35 years we have employed a province-leading model of trauma-informed practice in an open, non-violent space.

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Vancouver Office

2610 Victoria Drive Vancouver, BC, V5N 4L2

Surrey Office

Suite 301, 10334 152 Street Surrey, BC, V3R 4G8

Contact US

referrals@vast-vancouver.ca

Provincial Refugee Mental Health Line

1 (604) 588-3071 (Press 2)

Our Main Phone Number

1 (778) 372-6593

©︎ VAST 2022