News Briefs – Projects Aimed at Helping Immigrants Find Jobs

A new umbrella group of representatives from government, businesses and civic groups aims to help newcomers find work -- especially skilled immigrants who have trouble getting jobs in their fields.

Called the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council, the new group had its inaugural meeting yesterday.

The new council announced two pilot programs yesterday. One, called Career Bridge, will provide 50 internships for immigrants starting in November, with plans to offer 1,100 such placements over five years.

The internships, in finance, manufacturing, technology and other industries, will be funded by participating employers as well as by a $611,000 startup grant from the Ontario Ministry of Training, College and Universities.

Another pilot project, being launched by Toronto, will offer city employees -- accountants, engineers or information-technology specialists -- to act as mentors to new immigrants in those fields.

The council will also examine ways to help professionals from other countries get accredited to use their skills here.

Small Business Growth Attributed to Immigration

Ontario and Alberta will foster the most growth in small businesses in Canada over the next five years due to immigration and strength in the energy sector, according to a CIBC study.

It also pointed to a "strong wave of new immigrants" that will boost growth in Ontario of small businesses - those with fewer than 50 employees.

"In Ontario we're going to see significant increase in immigration coming from other countries, and we know that new immigrants have a higher propensity to be self employed," Tal said.

Those social ties cut across all classes of newcomers, including economic
migrants admitted on the strength of their job qualifications. About 44 per
cent of economic-class immigrants in the survey said they chose their final
destination based on family and friends living nearby, while 19 per cent
cited job prospects.

Ontario leader favors more immigration

If the world unfolds according to his plan, premier-designate Dalton McGuinty will go back to the polls in the spring of 2007 boasting of a long list of accomplishments, including the fact the election date of June 7 has been fixed by law.

And they hope to sign a made-in-Ontario immigration agreement that would bring more settlement services and language courses to new Canadians.

Like Paul Martin, the man who expects to be Prime Minister, Mr. McGuinty is a strong believer in the value of immigration. So the Ontario of four years hence will be more multiethnic and multicultural than it is today.