HOF163: Jim Pasman

Jim Pasman joined the Canadian Immigration Service in 1957 in London, Ontario as a temporary employee. He was first assigned to help with the settlement of Hungarian refugees. In the 30 years that followed, he worked in Niagara Falls, London, England, Grande Prairie, Ottawa and Vancouver. After retiring in 1987 he spent 8 years as the Administrator of a Long-Term Care Facility in Vancouver.  In the 1990s, Jim and his wife Barbara made a number of 3 month long trips to Austria working as volunteers with a charity that helped refugees seeking resettlement in Canada and other countries.

Jim’s experience with refugees was more hands-on when working in London, Ontario. As Manager of Settlement in Vancouver from 1977 to 1979, he was the departmental coordinator for the Indochinese program in the BC region. This included working with departmental staff, Non Governmental Organisations, the media and other levels of government.  From  1979 to 1987 he was the Manager of the Immigration Centre in Vancouver. The Long-Term Care Facility in Vancouver employed a number of immigrants including refugees from Vietnam. As a consequence, he became involved with the development of training programs for immigrants seeking employment as care staff.