On March 25, the TRIEC’S Immigrant Success Awards were presented to four companies and an individual: Pitney Bowes, Fraser Milner Casgrain (FMC) LLP, Samtack, St. Michael’s Hospital, KPMG Canada’s Michael Bach
March 31, 2010
Canadian Immigrant magazine
Miho Takaya
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Karen Tuschak, director of paraprofessional services of FMC LLP, and Amrit Soar, Kenyan-born former intern, right. |
The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) and RBC presented the the 4th annual Immigrant Success (IS) Awards, recognizing four organization and one individual for their commitment to recruiting and integrating skilled immigrants into the labour market, on March 25.
Mail and document mailstream technology company Pitney Bowes; Business and litigation law firm, Fraser Milner Casgrain (FMC) LLP; computer manufacturing and distribution company, Samtack; St. Michael’s Hospital; and Michael Bach, national director of diversity, equity and inclusion at KPMG Canada are the recipients of the awards in various categories.
Pitney Bowes, received the RBC Immigrant Advantage Award for recognizing a talent pool in diversity. At the Mississauga-based company, more than half of high potential leaders are diverse employees, while 15 per cent of senior leaders are skilled immigrants.
Guilherme Dias, director of strategic talent management is one of those skilled immigrants. He came to Canada from India 10 years ago and joined Pitney Bowes in 2007. “I spend a 40 to 50 per cent of my time for global projects for Pitney Bowes. The company gives me a chance to do what I love to do. I can be very comfortable and I can be who I am. This is where I am very proud to be part of,” Dias says.
Fraser Milner received CBC Toronto Vision Award for Immigrant Inclusion, for establishing a six-month paid internship for internationally trained lawyers, aiming to provide them with relevant knowledge, skills and experience that would enable a successful transition into a professional Canadian law career. Kenyan-born Amrit Soar had 20 years of experience as a lawyer in her home country when she came to Canada in 2007 says,”I completed the nine-month internship last October. It was very exciting. I learned a lot about Canadian legal environment and had a lot of networking opportunities with law firms. I have enriched my experience,” Soar says.
Working with the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, FMC developed a bridging program that creates new pathways to employment for internationally trained lawyers. The internationally Trained Lawyers (ITL) program will include academic and career-related course, as well as internships and will support close to 50 candidates starting in May 2010.
For more details about the IS Awards and profiles of the winners, visit isawards.ca.
Reference: Canadian Immigrant magazine
