New app offers work opportunities for refugees

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This article was published 17/12/2018 (2728 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of young entrepreneurs are helping Winnipeggers skip the snow pants and shovel this winter while providing employment for newcomers.

OnTheStep is a new application created by business and technology students at the University of Manitoba that connects contracted snow shovellers, or “steppers,” with property owners and managers in need of one time snow removal.

Victory Iyakoregha, an OnTheStep team member and computer sciences student, said the response from the community has been overwhelming.

“We were not expecting so much love from the Winnipeg people,” Iyakoregha said. “The app is growing insanely, from what we expected.”

The app launched on Google Play and the App Store at the end of November and has been downloaded over 1,000 times, with more users coming on board daily, Iyakoregha said.

Tyrel Praymayer, a student in the Asper School of Business handling the marketing of the application, said the team has been busy shovelling since launching, with requests coming from as far as Charleswood and Oakbank.

“It seems like something so obvious and so great to implement in Winnipeg,” Praymayer said. “It’s an incredible opportunity for us to grow outside of school and a great way to learn.

“It’s unimaginable when you’re in a business class that this could happen to you.”

To meet demand for residential snow removal, OnTheStep has partnered with the local employment firm Hire-A-Refugee. The organization connects recently arrived refugees, many of whom are from Syria, with piece-work in the community; painting, renovations, drywall, landscaping and cleaning are some of the services offered by the organization.

Praymayer said there are about 15 individuals from Hire-A-Refugee who have come on board with OnTheStep. The two operations were connected after co-founder Alex Shao came across a flyer from Hire-A-Refugee, advertising its services.

“It’s been really great and they’ve helped out a lot,” Praymayer said. “There’s been open communication and a lot of relationship building between the homeowners and the Hire-A-Refugees.”

Omar Rahimi, co-founder of Hire-A-Refugee, said the application and new revenue stream  has been exciting for his clients and has brought more attention to the organization.

“It’s created some more hope that they might find more jobs, which is exactly what we’re looking for,” Rahimi said. “We want people to come here and see that there is work they can do and be a part of the community.” 

Rahimi said about 200 refugees have accessed work through Hire-A-Refugee since 2016. He said compensation steppers receive from OnTheStep is fair, and many customers, who get to set the payment amount, have been generous.

While Praymayer and Iyakoregha did not disclose the percentage OnTheStep makes from each job, they said their contractors choose which properties they work on and immediately see what they will make on the transaction.

Iyakoregha said OnTheStep also meets each contractor individually before they become part of the pool of steppers, and each must provide their own shovel and transportation to the job.

Customers can expect the shoveller to arrive within 90 minutes after the job is accepted and will receive before and after pictures of the snow clearing, which includes pathways in addition to driveways.The minimum price for snow clearing is $20 and OnTheStep uses third-party Stripe to handle payments.

“We offer the platform for them to be able to see that there’s an opportunity to make this amount of money, this far away from you,” Iyakoregha said. “It’s then up to you if you’re going to take it.”

The OnTheStep development team is rounded out by Tristen Wong, Violeta Bekovcki, and Buhle Mwanza and they are currently recruiting more steppers to sign up.