TRIEC announces ‘Career Advancement for Immigrant Professionals’ program to support the upward mobility of newcomer talent

The project is funded as part of Future Skills Centre’s $37 million investment for innovative and responsive solutions to Canada’s evolving labour market

Toronto, ON (June 2, 2020) – Immigrant professionals arrive in Canada with extensive skills, experience, and education, yet too many are unable to find commensurate employment that takes advantage of their full potential. Although many employment programs in the region support newcomers to find that first job, few exists that support employers to fill talent needs via a strong growth and talent mobility strategy for their existing newcomer employees. TRIEC’s newly announced ‘Career Advancement for Immigrant Professionals’ program will fill this gap.

Future Skills Centre (FSC) is investing $410,000 in the project, based in the Greater Toronto Area, to assist immigrant professionals showcase their expertise, advance their careers and help employers retain newcomer talent. The program will support organizations to leverage existing newcomer human capital, when and where it is most needed.

“There is great historic precedent of immigrants coming to Canada and going on to not only fill talent and labour shortages, but becoming nation builders,” says Debroy Chan, TRIEC’s Interim Executive Director. “They bring tremendous value to our economy and we’ll need their support especially in rebuilding post COVID-19.”

Among other intended outcomes, TRIEC will work with both employees and medium and large employers in a variety of sectors to:

• Identify opportunities for employers to enhance their current talent management practices to foster career advancement of newcomers;
• Improve inclusive leadership skills for managers;
• Increase newcomer employees’ knowledge, skills, and access to networking and mentoring to create leadership pathways and advancement opportunities.

The program is a part of 30 projects greenlit by Future Skills Centre’s as part of a $37-million investment to provide essential solutions to support Canadians transitioning to new jobs or industries and fill employers’ skills gaps.

Pedro Barata, Executive Director of the Future Skills Centre, says helping immigrant professionals move beyond entry level jobs is an example of how projects FSC is investing in build an inclusive workforce for the future.

“Ensuring immigrants have jobs that match their skills, competencies, and experience is an important way to bridge the talent gaps facing many Canadian companies,” says Barata.

An overview of the FSC’s 30 funded projects is available here.

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MEDIA CONTACT
For additional information, please contact:
Daniel Kim, Communications Specialist, Media and Public Affairs
dkim@triec.ca
416-931-5803

About TRIEC
Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) champions the talent and experience that immigrants bring to the Greater Toronto Area. We support organizations to become more inclusive, and help newcomers expand their professional networks and understand the local labour market. We collaborate with leaders and organizations to build a GTA where immigrant professionals can contribute to their fullest potential.