Mentoring programs for new immigrants in Canada

ACCES Employment Services, an immigrant employment agency in Canada, is providing a Speed Mentoring pilot program throughout the nation to help new immigrants over the common barriers to success in getting jobs in the country.

The speed mentoring program aims to enable new immigrants in Canada get connected with the employers in the nation.

ACCES is hosting a huge networking program at the Toronto Board of Trade today for beginning the ‘Speed Mentoring’ program. 

The program aims to help around 100 new immigrants in Canada seeking jobs in the nation. In addition, around 100 managers and executives from nearly 65 companies are also likely to participate in the pilot program.

The 10-minutes speed mentoring program for newcomers in Canada will focus on giving information related to various sectors including engineering and finance, sales and marketing and IT(information technology).

Several previous studies have reiterated about the higher levels of productivity and innovation by immigrants to the Canadian firms employing them. And despite of having higher qualifications and work experience, immigrants continue to face several obstacles in getting jobs in Canada.

This is evident from the higher unemployment rate for new immigrants in Canada which is around 17 percent in the city of Toronto. This results in making far less competitive in the world.

As per the findings of a GTA study in the year 2009, immigrants with English-sounding names and having Canadian work experience were more likely to be called for an interview than applicants with foreign credentials and Indian, Chinese or Pakistani names.

Canada is facing increasing skill shortages primarily due to shrinking number of adults in the working-age. And hence, there is an increasing need for giving due recognition to the skills and credentials possessed by immigrants in Canada to help them get employment in their respective fields.

 The new Speed Mentoring Program sponsored by BMO Financial Group will involve providing information and guidance related to different sectors and different occupations for the benefit of the newcomers in Canada.

Around 1,600 professional new immigrants have benefited from the Speed Mentoring program by ACCES in the last four years and the job success rate of this program at five locations throughout Canada has been around 80 percent.