It has been an exciting year of mentorship program initiatives!
This past year, many internationally trained newcomer professionals to Canada have benefited from JVS’s mentoring programs which include the following:

CanadaInfoNet:
Many newcomers to Canada feel isolated, uninformed and frustrated with their job search. The CanadaInfoNet Mentoring Program, through its interactive, web-based community, has proven to be a powerful networking strategy for newcomers in achieving their occupational goals as they connect with more experienced Canadians who volunteer as online mentors and assist them in understanding the Canadian job market.

CanadaInfoNet is successful because of the hard work of our mentors and protégés. Our mentors have told us how pleased they are to play a role in newcomers’ success in the Canadian workforce. Protégés meanwhile have commented how they have gained valuable information, techniques and strategies in seeking and securing meaningful and relevant work. Shibani, one of our protégés, enjoyed working with his mentor and told us about his recent success in finding a position: "There's good news- I got a job as a multimedia developer. The firm … is close to my place too (15 minutes by bus). I'm designing websites, logos & so on. It’s good to work in my field ... thanks for everything."

To learn more about the CanadaInfoNet Mentoring Program, visit www.canadainfonet.org,
then click "Mentoring Program".

The Mentoring Partnership:
This initiative of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) is an alliance of community agencies in Toronto (such as JVS), Peel Region and York Region, TRIEC and corporate partners. With the help of corporate partners, TRIEC recruits experienced professionals to act as mentors. Community-based organizations then match them with internationally educated professionals - the mentees. Mentoring is done face-to-face and one-on-one. The Mentoring Partnership works with a variety of employment sectors.

The positive impact of this mentorship has not gone unnoticed by local politicians. Mayor David Miller was at the Mentor Recognition event that took place at City Hall on November 21, 2005 and had this to say: "Mentoring is a great way to facilitate immigrants' integration into our workplaces and our society. It is an exciting opportunity for City employees to give back to the community by helping immigrants build networks and gain employment advice from colleagues in the same profession."

Councillor Janet Davis, Chair of the Working Group on Immigration and Refugee Issues, was also in attendance and commented "The response to the mentoring program by City staff and community partners demonstrates the City's commitment to being a leader in helping immigrants practice their chosen professions."

Vladimir, a mentee of the program, has his own personal success story: "I wanted to be established in Canada in my professional field … that is why I really welcomed the opportunity to join the Mentorship Program at the TRCA. Kelly assisted me … in pursuit of my job search. She helped me to start my own career according to my professional skills and experience….Currently, I'm working at the TRCA as a Flora Assistant. I enjoy this job very much. It's exactly what I know and like doing….While participating in the Mentorship Program, I grew up both professionally and personally. It was a wonderful and a valuable experience, and I deeply believe that the Mentorship Program will be increasing because it is very much needed."

The mentoring program assists mentors as well as mentees, in terms of increased awareness and understanding of newcomers’ challenges. In thanking participants at City Hall’s mentorship recognition event, City Manager Shirley Hoy noted to the mentors in attendance, "You have had the opportunity to further develop coaching, leadership and cross-cultural communication skills and to learn more about immigrant settlement issues."

To learn more about this program, visit www.thementoringpartnership.com.

IC Network Group Mentoring:
The IC-Network (Iranian-Canadian Network for Employment and Entrepreneurship Mentoring) is a networking association consisting of established Iranian-Canadian professionals and business people. Members of IC-Network have approached JVS Toronto to partner in a community-specific, person-to-person group-mentoring program. The IC-Network-JVS Toronto Group Mentoring Program links members of IC-Network with Iranian-Canadian newcomers for the purpose of job search mentoring.

Our recent IC Network launch was a phenomenal success, with 32 newcomer participants enthusiastic about meeting their mentors for the first time.

To learn more about IC Network Group Mentoring, please call Bryan Welsh at 416-782-3976 x218.

Happy Holidays!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our clients, volunteers, employees and partners for their hard work and efforts. We wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season.