Helping immigrants integrate into the Canadian workforce

A Vancouver pilot project was launched this week in order to help skilled immigrants better integrate into the Canadian business world. The Newcomer’s Mentorship Program is a joint project between the city of Vancouver and S.U.C.C.E.S.S., which is an organization for newcomers to Canada.

Every year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada grants permanent resident visas to thousands of skilled workers. Although these immigrants have a vast knowledge and international training, they often have a hard time integrating into the Canadian workforce due to lack of Canadian work experience or proper certifications.

The project consists of 19 employees who work at the managerial level in various fields such as engineering, information technology, and finance. These employees will be mentoring 19 new skilled immigrants. The mentors will provide the immigrants with contacts at professional associations and assist them in finding local employment in their area of expertise. Many professions in Canada require a license in order to practice and many new immigrants are unaware of these licenses. The aim of this project is to provide skilled immigrants with the tools they need to enter a competitive work force. Although this project is small-scale, if successful, one can expect more mentorship programs to be created around the country.