Career Mentorship Services in Canada for Immigrants

International students as well as immigrants especially new arrivals in Canada need career mentorship services. This mentorship program helps them to settle down quickly in Canada.

Whereas finding a job in Canada may be easy, settling down may not. Therefore, finding a mentor will help you to settle down quickly as a new comer in Canada.

Hence, in this article, you will learn what a mentorship program is, the various career mentorship services in Canada as well as the benefits of finding a mentor in Canada. In addition to that, you will also learn how to find a mentor in Canada.

What Career Mentorship Service Means?

Mentoring simply means pairing two persons together. However, one these persons is an expert in the field while the other is not. What this means is that one person who has the skill will teach the other without experience and skill.

Thus, according to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), mentoring involves the pairing of an experienced or skilled person (mentor) with someone who intends to improve their skills (mentee).

Generally, there is no particular way to mentor someone. What this means is that mentoring can happen in many ways. For instance, a fellow worker can act as a mentor. Apart from that, you can as well decide to use a career mentorship program organisation.

Career mentorship services in Canada

Students and immigrants in Canada especially new ones need career mentorship services. This is a good way to learn how to adapt your skills and experience for the local job market.

It all helps you to grow your professional network in Canada. In addition to that, career mentorship program will help you to find relevant career opportunities.

This following are career mentorship services organisations in Canada:

1. Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS)

ISANS is a career mentorship service in the province of Nova Scotia. It has a special career mentorship program for newcomers that matches you with a mentor in your field of work. However, before you can register, you must contact one of their Employment Specialists.

In this program, you will meet with your mentor about 3 to four times a very month. In addition, you will also get ongoing guidance, support, and suggestions to help you achieve your career goals.

2. Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council (CRIEC)

CRIEC is specifically meant for immigrants who already have a permaneny residence. However, you must have the intention of living in Calgary. If you meet the criteria for CRIEC career mentorship program, then, you must sent an email to [email protected] to learn the next steps. Meanwhile, under this program, you have the following:

Connector meetings: This takes place one. In this meeting, you meet with your mentor to connect with him or her.

Workshops: This is when you get the necessary information in skill building and job market.

SmartConnections: To connect newcomers with employers in Calgary who can provide them with tips and ideas to prepare them for employment.

Mentoring Circles: This where new comers in Calgary receive mentoring.

3. Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC)

This is the most popular career mentorship service in Toronto especially to new students. To date, more than 25,000 immigrants have been matched.

However, before you can qualify for this program. you must have at least two years of work experience. In addition to that, you must be unemployed at the moment.

In this career mentorship service, you will be meeting with your mentor for at least one and half hours every week. This means that you will meet for 18 hours in three months. However, you can discuss with your mentor to know the best time have your meetings.

Additionally, you will also have access to a variety of online tools and resources to guide you through your partnership.

4. Edmonton Region Immigrant Employment Council (ERIEC)

First of all, this is for new immigrants and students who want to work in Edmonton. This career mentorship service aims at supporting them with job search. In addition to that, it also helps them to understand the Canadian work culture.

In order to join the program you must be new to Canada and actively searching for employment in your field of work.

5. Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO)

This is a career mentorship service for residents of Ottawa especially international students who studied outside Canada. OCISO helps such professionals to obtain employment in their field.

If you enroll in this program, you will meet with a mentor in the same or related field. As such, you must meet your mentor weekly. If you qualify for this program, then, we can send an email to [email protected] to register.

However, you must be a resident of Ottawa.

6. Skills for Change career mentorship service

This is a career mentorship service for residents of Toronto especially for students who graduated from foreign universities. The program responds to shifting immigration and workplace trends and lead to employment.

Before you can enroll in the program, you must have at least two years of work experience outside of Canada. In addition to that, you must have lived in Canada for less than five years.

In this program, you will be meeting with your mentor an hour per week for up to four months. To be part of this program, send an email to [email protected]

7. CultureLink career mentorship service

CultureLink is a settlement and community organization with more than 30 years’ experience in developing and delivering services to meet the needs of diverse communities.

Their Community Connections Career Mentoring service is focused on helping newcomers build their network and obtain job search support. You can join the program if you are a PR with no Canadian work experience.

All participants are expected to commit to at least 30 hours within a six-month timeframe to meet with a mentor and participate in related programs.

To register for the mentoring program, you are required to fill out a registration form. You will then be invited to speed-mentoring events to interact with their one-off mentors, attend informational interview sessions, and/or be matched with one mentor for a period of three to six months for long-term mentoring.

8. Canada InfoNet career mentorship service

Canada InfoNet is a free employment program designed for students who studied outside of Canada.

Through their online career mentorship program, they connect new immigrants into Canada with established Canadian professionals in their field.

For this program, you will meet with your mentor an hour a week for 10 weeks.

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How to find a mentor in Canada?

There are many ways to connect with mentors in Canada. Some Canadian professionals and industry leaders even provide free career mentorship service to new immigrants.

Therefore, you can just request to be paired with a mentor through government-funded organization. However, you can still find a mentor in the following ways:

1. Volunteering

You can decide to do a volunteering work and use it as a career mentorship service. Through this, you can get the experience you need as well as build your network. In addition to that, you can find a mentor.

2. Industry gatherings, seminars, or conferences

Apart from volunteering, you can also use industry gatherings, seminars as well as conferences to find a mentor in Canada. In order to look for career mentorship service through seminars, you can use websites like Eventbrite and Meetup to locate industry-specific networking around you.

3. Use of websites

In addition to the above mentioned methods, you can use other platforms like LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great tool to find a mentor. In the website, you can see options to set your profile that you at looking for a career mentorship service. With this, you will come in contact with professionals who are ready to mentor you in your chosen field.

In addition to LinkedIn, Ten Thousand Coffees is a networking website that’s also useful for find mentors. Here, you can list your profile and use it to find professional in your field who are really to help you.

Benefits of mentorship service in Canada for students/immigrants

Finding a good career mentorship service program in Canada has a lot of benefits to new immigrants and students in Canada. It may be easy to find a job in Canada, however, when it comes to settling down to the demand of the job, it becomes a bit hard.

Therefore, you may need a mentor to help you settle down. Some of the benefits of career mentorship service in Canada include:

Goal-setting.
Guidance on creating a career plan.
Learning about Canada’s hidden jobs market.
Acquire skills on how to behave in applications and interviews.
Insight on Canada’s jobs market and workplace culture.
Helping you to understand certain terms in Canada job market: job titles, accreditation, culture, hiring process, and more
Constructive feedback on your resume, cover letter, and targeted application strategies.
Guidance on networking, building your confidence and self-esteem for the conversations ahead.
Identifying under-appreciated (by you!) achievements in your work history that you can then amplify.

We hope this article has enlightened you of the various career mentorship services in Canada and the benefits.