Last Friday, a diverse group of leaders from the business and academic community joined forces with immigrant-serving organizations to present a series of innovative ideas to promote the meaningful and sustainable integration of immigrants into the Canadian labour market at the Beyond “Canadian Experience”: Mobilizing Diverse Talent for Corporate and Community Success conference.
This conference was planned as a result of the Beyond “Canadian Experience” Project, a collaboration of the University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, the Mennonite New Life Centre, and the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter. The project is also funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Presenters at the conference included:
- Keynote: John Tory, Chair, CivicAction
- Charles Achampong, Manager, Corporate & Stakeholder Relations, TRIEC
- Dr. Izumi Sakamoto, Lead researcher, Canadian Experience Research Project
- Adriana Salazar, Mennonite New Life Centre, Newcomer Skills at Work Project
- Matt Petersen, Director of Diversity Strategies, CIBC
In addition to these trailblazers in the diversity hiring community, our own President & CEO, Anne Lamont, presented on the topic of “Immigrant Internships as Promising Practice.” Throughout Anne’s presentation, the theme of “predictability” tended to resonate with much of the audience, as this concern is often ubiquitous when recruiting and integrating internationally qualified professionals.
“Canadian experience” generally lessens a hiring manager’s apprehension around a candidate’s “predictability”, yet this qualification is one of the most common barriers faced by immigrants trying to break into the Canadian workforce. Furthermore, the definition of “Canadian experience” is often vague and misconstrued by immigrants and employers alike, as revealed by the research from Beyond “Canadian Experience” Project.
During the course of Anne’s presentation, it became clear that paid internships for internationally qualified professionals truly mitigate the concern for “predictability” and finding the right fit for the job by providing employers with a flexible and risk-averse recruitment solution.
From John Tory’s perspective, it is critical that – whether through internships or other forms of onboarding – Canadian businesses start integrating this group of highly skilled immigrants to sustain and expand both the labour and consumer market.
At Career Edge Organization, we couldn’t agree more.
