In multicultural Toronto, there's a growing awareness that an ethnically and culturally diverse workforce is a key asset to doing business in the global economy, but as the frequently cited high number of skilled immigrants whose talents are underutilized demonstrates, not every business yet understands how to fully exploit the human resource riches found in Toronto's pool of skilled immigrants.
A study of 168 skilled immigrants and 20 Toronto employers released last week by the
Progress Career Planning Institute indicated some keys: for internationally educated professionals, the study concludes, becoming "more Canadian" by focussing on language and communication skills is pivotal; for employers, mentoring new hires on the workplace and Canadian culture is important.
A day-long conference to be held this week (January 20) at the
Toronto Board of Trade will explore the subject for the benefit of human resource leaders from corporate Canada. Entitled "Building Workplace 3.0" and presented by CIBC and Skills for Change, the conference features a keynote speech by John Tory and speeches and breakout sessions on subjects such as "Competency
based hiring" and " Canadian experience vs. Technical experience."
Registration for the event is $195. See the
Diverstiy@Work website for more information.
Writer: Edward Keenan
Sources: Amanda Galbraith, on behalf of Progress Career Planning Institute; Judy Csillag, Skills for Change