When Enrique Enriques immigrated with his wife and daughter to Toronto from Philippines in 2003, the family figured out much of how Canada works on their own. “I didn’t know the TTC was exact fare,” Enriques laughs now, “I was giving the driver a $20 bill and waiting for change.”
Once they got settled, though, Enriques decided he wanted to make things easier for other newcomers to Canada. He started volunteering with the Mentoring Partnership at the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (
TRIEC), giving career and cultural advice and support to recent immigrants. This week, in celebration of the 10
th anniversary of the program, Enriques was one of the volunteers recognized for mentoring 10 or more newcomers.
“I’m very honoured,” says Enriques, now an information technology analyst with the City of Toronto. “You can call it giving back. But I really wanted an opportunity to share my experiences with newcomers to make their transition into the workforce and into Canada smoother than how I experienced it. I share their success, not that I have anything to do with it, but it makes me feel good. I learn more from them than them from me.”
Over the history of the program, more than 10,000 skilled immigrants have been matched with leaders in their professions; more than 75 per cent of them have found employment in their field within 12 months. During the three month match-up, mentors provide career leads and act as a sounding board for their mentees.
What’s Enriques’ favourite piece of advice when newcomers are feeling discouraged about getting their first professional job in Canada? They should think about what brought them to Canada in the first place. “Go back to the day when you got the letter from the Canadian government accepting your application. Remember how you felt. That brings them back to how excited they were and motivated they were to come to this country,” he says.
Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Enrique Enriques