Profession to Profession - Mentoring Immigrants Program

The 13th annual Profession to Profession Mentoring Immigrants Program is a collaboration between The Mentoring Partnership, a TRIEC program, and community partners. Partners provide employment services and bridging programs to skilled immigrant professionals in the Greater Toronto Area, and coach mentees and mentors throughout the partnership.Employer partners engage with their staff to mentor immigrants in related professions. Mentors gain insight and knowledge about newcomer experiences and strengthen leadership, communication and coaching competencies. Mentees learn about workplace culture in the Canadian context, the local labour market and job search and networking strategies.In a 2016 survey, 88 per cent of mentees indicated that their mentors helped them become better prepared for employment, and 94 per cent noted an increase in confidence while talking about their skills and qualifications. About 73 per cent of mentees gained employment in a related field within 12 months of completing the program. A total of 635 City staff have mentored 1,590 mentees since the program started in 2004 with 283 staff being repeat mentors."As a newcomer to Canada, participating in the City of Toronto's mentoring immigrants program has been life changing," said Pourya Nazemi. "My mentor, Andrew Au in City Planning, shared his expertise and insights about Canadian workplace values and culture, volunteer and job search strategies and connected me with industry professionals. Because of this opportunity, I am happy to share that I am now working for the City of Toronto as a heritage planner at Heritage Preservation Services."More information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/mentoring-immigrants and http://www.thementoringpartnership.com.