Four Canadian Companies Awarded For Exemplary Work With Newcomers

Canada’s immigration agency announced the winners of the 2020 IRCC Employer Awards for Newcomer Employment on March 11. Four Canadian companies were awarded for helping immigrants get jobs and settle into their communities

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) recognizes the four Canadian companies who have made significant efforts to help immigrants integrate into the labour market. The awards were launched since 2015.

The Minister of Immigration, Marco Mendicino, announced the four winners for 2020:

Glen Haven Manor— New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

One of the biggest long-term care facilities in Nova Scotia province, Glen Haven Manor, was the first to be a part of the Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP), which was established to assist refugees to find employment in Canada.

Recently, the company recruited Fifteen (15) continuing care assistants from Kenya and Jordan through EMPP initiative. The facility is also working with community groups to formalize recruitment, training and retention program for new immigrants continuing care assistants that may be used by other care organizations.

KPMG — Toronto, Ontario 

KPMG offers audit, tax and advisory services in forty (40) locations across Canada. The organization has put the effort into developing the intercultural competences of its leaders and recruiters.

They recruit international talents and have hired over 250 international employees from across the globe. Their “global mobility team” supports immigrants who come to Canada to join KPMG.

KPMG has provided about 306 mentors from their staffs and mentored more than 580 new immigrants through the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council’s mentoring initiative.

MUFG Fund Services Ltd.— Halifax, Nova Scotia

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s Halifax location supports new immigrants by offering substantial information, coordinating temporary housing, and providing basic needs to ensure new staffs have a remarkable experience when first arriving in Canada. Newcomers are then put in contact with local IRCC-funded settlement services.

The company also ensures that culturally significant dates are recognized and celebrated.

MFUG is an approved employer under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program and is also an approved training facility for professional chartered accountants. They help newcomers qualify to be designated, chartered financial analysts. They also provide support to new immigrants in either transferring their designation to Canadian recognized charters or starting the designations process from scratch.

Additionally, MFUG offers mentoring, support groups, and networking opportunities for new immigrants.

They have hired twenty-seven (27) employees who were new to the province and Nineteen (19) new international graduates since January 2019. The retention rate among these forty-six (46) new employees is Ninety-one (91) per cent.

White Hat Drycleaners and Commercial Laundry— Campbell River, British Columbia.

The Company is owned by Ai Guo Zhang, who is a Canadian immigrant himself.

Seven (7) out of his Ten (10) employees are also newcomers. He has hired several vulnerable immigrants referred by local settlement service providers, offering them their first major experience working in Canada and on-the-job training.

In addition to creating jobs for newcomers, Zhang assists new families in pursuit of their settlement goals.

Immigrants sometimes have difficulty integrating into the labour market. In issuing these awards IRCC recognizes these four Canadian companies that go the extra mile to creating enabling environments where immigrants can thrive.

“I am so delighted with the outstanding efforts these companies have made to ensure that their newcomer employees feel welcome and have the necessary support they need to achieve their full potentials in Canada,” Mendicino stated in a media release.

“Settlement and integration is a two-way thing, and these employers recognizes that they have a role to play in assisting newcomers maximize their potentials and contribute to Canada’s economy and society at large.”