Press release: The Mentoring Partnership Announces Plans to Grow

THE MENTORING PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCES PLANS TO GROW, CELEBRATES CHANGING THOUSANDS OF LIVES FOR THE BETTER

• Established skilled immigrant mentoring program reaches landmark of 10,000 mentoring matches over 10 years
• The Mentoring Partnership announces development plan through an investment by LEAP: The Centre for Social Impact, bringing transformative hands-on support over five years at its Annual Recognition Reception
• The Mentoring Partnership’s Annual Recognition Reception will also celebrate outstanding corporate and volunteer mentors

TORONTO, ON (December 2, 2014) – The Mentoring Partnership, a program of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), has made more than 10,000 mentoring matches between skilled immigrants and professionals in their field. The program celebrated this achievement today at its 10th Anniversary Celebration and Annual Recognition Reception. Emceed by CBC-TV’s Our Toronto host Marivel Taruc at CBC’s Barbara Frum Atrium in Toronto, the event also honoured the outstanding work of the program’s mentors in 2014 and launched exciting plans to reach thousands more skilled immigrants.

TRIEC announced the investment by LEAP: The Centre for Social Impact in The Mentoring Partnership at the event. By combining the strengths of its staff, advisors and sector partners – The Boston Consulting Group, McCarthy Tétrault, Cossette, Ernst & Young and The Offord Group – the Centre catalyzes massive social change in Canada. The partnership between the Centre and TRIEC will help scale The Mentoring Partnership, a program addressing unemployment and underemployment of skilled immigrants in the GTA and across Canada.

The Mentoring Partnership brings together recent skilled immigrants and established professionals in occupation-specific mentoring relationships. This relationship has become a powerful way of supporting newcomers to the GTA in their search for meaningful employment. Mentors are given the opportunity to hone their leadership skills in an increasingly diversifying workplace, with more than 75 percent of mentees finding work in their professional field after 12 months.

“In 2014, The Mentoring Partnership reached two historic milestones: the 10th anniversary of the program and 10,000 successful mentor-mentee matches that have changed thousands of lives for the better,” said Margaret Eaton, Executive Director, Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council. “Our new partnership with the Centre will allow us to change even more lives, as we enter a new era of the program.”

The Mentoring Partnership’s success to date has been driven by its employer and service delivery partners. CIBC is one such partner: their employees have mentored more than 500 immigrant professionals via the program. The company was recognized at the Annual Recognition Reception for helping newcomers find their way to a rewarding career in the Greater Toronto Area.

“CIBC’s employee participation in The Mentoring Partnership furthers our commitment to enhance the experience for newcomers to Canada. Through this TRIEC program, we too have been mentored,” said Gillian Whitebread, Vice-President, Diversity, Inclusion & Executive Talent Management. “The program has provided our employees with a stronger appreciation of international talent and an opportunity to think with a global mindset, while further developing our employee’s coaching skills- a win-win for all.”

EY received special recognition for its efforts in matching 100 skilled immigrants with leaders in their chosen industries. The Mentoring Partnership also honoured individual mentors from EY who have made a difference in the lives of 10 or more skilled immigrants in 2014 and mentee-turned-mentors in the program.

For more information on TRIEC and The Mentoring Partnership, and to read stories from some of the program’s participants, please visit TRIEC.ca, TheMentoringPartnership.com or @TRIEC. Follow the hashtag #TMP10 to join the celebration!

About TRIEC and The Mentoring Partnership
The Mentoring Partnership is a collaboration of employer and community partners and operates as a program of TRIEC. TRIEC creates and champions solutions to better integrate skilled immigrants in the Greater Toronto Region labour market.

Prominent employer partners in The Mentoring Partnership include the City of Toronto and TD Canada Trust, who have previously reached 1000 mentoring matches, and Scotiabank and CIBC, who have made more than 500 matches between skilled immigrant professionals and their staff.

The Mentoring Partnership’s 10th Anniversary Celebration and Annual Recognition Reception was sponsored by TD Bank. The CBC’s Inclusion and Diversity department provided the venue, and beverages were sponsored by Steam Whistle Brewery.

About LEAP: The Centre for Social Impact
LEAP: The Centre for Social Impact employs venture philanthropy to create massive social change in Canada. We apply the discipline of private equity investing to select, support and scale charities with quantifiable social impact.

The Centre is pioneering a new model that teams up high-potential charities with forward-thinking investors and private sector expertise to create measurable and sustainable benefits to society. Transformative hands-on support to scale impact across Canada is delivered by the Centre, our board, advisors and sector partners: The Boston Consulting Group, McCarthy Tétrault, Cossette, Ernst & Young and The Offord Group. LEAP was incubated in the Pecaut Centre.

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