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Career Edge Blog

Career Buzz: “Get an edge on your career with Career Edge.”

By Press release

Career Edge was featured on Career Buzz, a radio show broadcast on CIUT 89.5 FM, on December 10. The show was hosted by Mark Franklin, President and Practice Leader at CareerCycles, a Toronto-based career management social enterprise. During the show, Mark interviewed Naguib Gouda, President of Career Edge and a staunch advocate for paid internships. Naguib was joined by Sydney Helland, Marketing & Communications Coordinator at Career Edge, who launched her career through a Career Edge paid internship. During the show, both Naguib and Sydney shared their career stories and chatted about the socio-economic impact of paid internships and the benefits of Career Edge’s internship model.

If you are an employer looking to learn more about paid internships, or a job seeker aspiring to launch your career, play or download the radio episode by clicking here to hear how Career Edge’s paid internship programs can help.

Career Buzz radio show of Dec. 10, first broadcast on CIUT 89.5 FM in Toronto. Produced and hosted by Mark Franklin, president and practice leader of CareerCycles (www.careercycles.com)

About Career Buzz: Career Buzz aims to inspire, educate and entertain listeners in the area of career satisfaction, how careers really happen, and what listeners might do to find more career happiness. If you believe that career happiness and having stories like yours heard is valuable, please consider supporting CIUT and Career Buzz during the twice annual membership campaign, which you can find out about by signing up for the Watch for Clues Newsletter on www.careercycles.com.

skilled newcomers

Helping Skilled Newcomers Join Canada’s Workforce

By Press release

Career Edge and the NACC have joined forces to connect internationally qualified professionals (IQPs) with leading organizations to help re-launch careers in Canada.

The partnership’s pilot program, NACC Edge, is an alternative career pathway that aims to help IQPs find relevant work in their area of expertise by using their Canadian-obtained training and skills. After completing a training program at an NACC member career college, program graduates can re-launch their careers in Canada through Career Edge’s paid internships in related occupations.

The paid internship program focuses on opportunities in various sectors, such as information technology (IT), administration, and health care. Many IQPs join the program in order to enter regulated professions within these fields.  The NACC Edge program enables IQPs to continue working in their field while re-training to meet the needs of the job market.

The NACC and Career Edge share a common goal of helping create opportunities for IQPs, giving them a greater chance at finding professional success in Canada, whether through education and training programs or through career-related work experience.

“The NACC’s members are very excited to see this partnership come into effect,” said Serge Buy, NACC’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is one concrete step we can take toward reducing the challenges faced by IQPs when they seek to obtain work experiences in their fields.”

Canada’s labour force has experienced a growing number of underutilized workers who resort to accepting “survival jobs” to stay afloat when they are faced with a job market that seldom recognizes their international experience and accreditation. The NACC Edge program seeks to address this pressing issue by ensuring IQPs are integrated into Canada’s workforce, so that they are working to their full potential, while strengthening Canada’s globally competitive economy.

“We are very proud to partner with the NACC,” says Naguib Gouda, President of Career Edge. “Through this partnership, we’re giving more options to newcomers who are struggling to acquire Canadian work experience that aligns with their career goals,” he says.

NACC Edge is available across the country and is delivered by NACC’s Regional Coordinators in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto, and will be supported by staff at the NACC national office in Ottawa and Career Edge’s headquarters in Toronto.

Internationally qualified Professionals

Tips to help internationally qualified professionals re-launch their careers in Canada

By Diversity and Inclusion

In the article “Internationally Trained Professionals – Should They Abandon Their Profession?” Lee Koren makes some great points, and we’re going to reply to them below!

Employment Consultant Lee Koren recently blogged about her experience helping internationally qualified professionals (IQPs) overcome the challenges faced when attempting to re-launch their careers in Canada.

Koren explains that while the government has made social programming available to support the settlement of new immigrants, employers’ behaviour, in terms of recognizing international (versus Canadian) work experience, remains a challenge – despite the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s policy on removing the “Canadian experience” barrier.

Too often, this barrier results in skilled immigrants taking “survival jobs” that are well below their level of education and experience acquired abroad. This is not only a huge setback for IQPs, but also for Canada’s economy.

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Report from FINA recommends the protection of intern rights

By Press release

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) has released “Youth Employment in Canada: Challenges and Potential Solutions” – a report that summarizes the information gathered in relation to the Committee’s Youth Employment Study that was adopted on October 29, 2013.

As part of this study, the Committee held seven hearings in March and April of 2014; 38 groups or individuals made presentations to the Committee, and an additional 26 written briefs were received. Career Edge was privileged to have been included among those invited to appear as a witnesses, and to submit a brief with recommendations towards improving employment outcomes for Canada’s youth.

Career Edge’s brief that was presented to the Committee on April 8, 2014 included the following recommendation:

“That the government enact federal legislation to the Canada Labour Code that specifically outlines the conditions of internships across all of Canada’s provinces and territories. This will ensure fairness and the protection of young workers, while giving employers firm guidelines for incorporating internships and internship programs into their recruitment, retention, and succession planning initiatives.”

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