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Ottawa council to champion immigrant employment
Multidisciplinary group to break down hurdles preventing newcomers from finding work
Vito Pilieci, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Friday, April 13, 2007
Stories of skilled immigrants who can find work only as fast-food cooks or cab drivers are common to the point of cliche. Yet until someone comes forward to champion their abilities -- and Canada's need of those abilities -- the pattern of dashed hopes and underutilized resources seems doomed to continue.
Yesterday in Ottawa, a whole league of champions stepped forward.
Drawing from businesses, political organizations and schools, the Employer Council of Champions announced a mission to examine the hurdles that prevent skilled immigrants from finding work, and then dismantle them.
"More than one-quarter of skilled immigrants are working in jobs that don't match their skill levels," said Hicham Adra, senior vice-president and general counsel of CGI Corp. and co-chair of the newly formed council.
"Meanwhile, employers are facing shortages in skilled labour.
"This mismatch will have drastic economic consequences if we don't act now."
Mr. Adra, originally from Lebanon, said the council has already identified the areas of information technology, health, public sector and government employment and finance as sectors that could benefit the most from hiring skilled immigrant labour.
The council plans to act as a liaison with businesses and educate companies about skilled immigrants and why they should be hired.
The 26 members of the new council were announced at a morning meeting -- a breakfast of champions -- hosted by the Hire Immigrants Ottawa project. Members include Algonquin College, Bell Canada, Hydro Ottawa, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities, among others.
The council argues that the need to spur companies to hire immigrant workers is particularly important in view of a recent Statistic Canada report that immigrants will make up 100 per cent of the growth of Canada's labour force by 2011.
Other groups in Ottawa are involved in the cause.
The City of Ottawa offers the Ethnic Minority Business Capacity Building program, which teaches skilled immigrants what it takes to open their own business.
The Social Planning Council of Ottawa has found that immigrants are more likely than Canadian born residents to be self-employed. And of all immigrants running businesses, more than 41 per cent said they had hired extra employees to help them, the council said.
The three-month business program, which has been running for two years now, teaches immigrants about planning and marketing as well as local business regulations and customs.
The program runs from January to March each year. Last year, of 20 would-be entrepreneurs who took the course, four started their own businesses. This year, all 28 people who attended had plans to start their own businesses.
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