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Congratulations to the 2006 Immigrant Success Award winners!Small Employer : i 3 DVR International Inc. Small Employer Award i 3 DVR International Inc. i 3 DVR International Inc. relied on skilled immigrants to become a premier provider of digital video technologies. In fact, i 3 DVR's entire Research and Development department - over 20% of i 3 DVR's entire workforce - is comprised of skilled immigrants. i 3 DVR recently expanded its R&D department to develop and launch a new digital video management system. They harnessed funding from the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) to hire several software engineers - all skilled immigrants. i 3 DVR found it did not need to go abroad to find skilled immigrants; it instead recruited its new staff through the HRDC Job Bank, Workopolis, Monster.ca, Yahoo.ca and its own website. Jobs are first posted internally to offer their own staff opportunities for promotion and self-development. Internal postings also generate referrals for new positions from existing staff. i 3 DVR selects candidates with the most relevant education and work experience - regardless of where it was obtained. A candidate's English proficiency is evaluated according to the needs of the position. For example, a receptionist's English proficiency would be scrutinized more closely than a software developer's. i 3 DVR also offers ESL training at their headquarters, covering everything from basic greetings to oral presentations. Hosting monthly company luncheons, annual company vacations and holiday events, enables employees to practice their English and foster a family-like atmosphere with their peers. Mid-size Employer Award Family Service Association of Toronto How can a community service agency truly be "of service" to the most multicultural city in the world? By reflecting that multiculturalism in every aspect of its work. Family Service Association of Toronto (FSA) provides services in nearly 20 different languages. Clients come to FSA at their most vulnerable moments, and they find counselors who share their language, culture and experience. This quality has made FSA the "go to" agency for clients and for partnerships by organizations serving smaller or emerging ethno-cultural groups. In the early 1990s, FSA reformatted its job postings, abandoning detailed lists of required skills and training to open the door to applicants with international training. FSA also decided to avoid the use of the phrase "only those applicants selected will be contacted" and began to personally thank and inform all candidates of their status. Job postings are made available on FSA's website and through many community agencies, and every posting notes that "FSA Toronto welcomes diversity and is committed to a policy of anti-oppression." FSA's anti-oppression philosophy informs its hiring and its training practices as well. Interview panels frequently include immigrants who not only understand the candidate's experiences, but also demonstrate that immigrants hold a variety of positions in the agency. Candidates are asked about their thoughts on FSA's anti-oppression policies. As one FSA employee said, "That said to me that FSA is genuinely concerned about helping all people." FSA allots each employee $300 for professional development, and encourages staff to further their education both through internal training programs and external professional development opportunities. Its new Learning and Innovation Fund also provides seed money to explore fresh ideas. FSA does not consider its success to be the result of "going out of our way" to bring immigrants into the organization. Rather, it simply welcomes the most talented people it can find, and nurtures them to create a strong, effective workforce. Large Employer Award Ernst & Young LLP It is no wonder Ernst & Young (EY) is a leader in supporting immigrants on the job - almost one-quarter of the 3,400 people working for EY in Canada are skilled immigrants. Over the last two years in the firm's Assurance and Advisory Business Services practice, almost 45%of experienced hires - candidates who have already held at least one job - were international. At EY, support for inclusiveness comes straight from the top. Canadian chairman and CEO Lou Pagnutti sponsored the firm's Ethnic Diversity Task Force. He also chairs the Inclusiveness Steering Committee, which oversees the policies and practices that create an inclusive and supportive workplace for all employees. All EY recruiters receive inclusiveness training, and each recruiting team has a Diversity Champion. EY also holds inclusiveness awareness workshops across Canada, attracting over 1,100 employees - 85% of eligible participants. The firm's online calendar makes it easy for managers to plan meetings that won't conflict with religious or national holidays. Since the early 1990s, EY has created many programs that support, integrate and promote skilled immigrants. For example: Over the past two years, EY has offered five one-day workshops for international hires and their spouses. EY offers business communications skills training - everything from presentations to small talk. A pilot Experienced New Hire Coaching program offers one-on-one coaching to help international new hires integrate more quickly into their new jobs and life in Canada. The firm's Career Watch program identifies high-potential minorities and women to ensure they have equitable opportunities to become partner. EY's Learning Partnership offers a formal year-long mentoring program that pairs minority managers and senior managers with partners. The program is designed to retain visible minority professionals and foster career development. EY's initiatives have been recognized as best practices by the Conference Board of Canada, and featured in a cover story in Workplace Diversity Update. Individual - Amy Go, Executive Director, Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric CareAmy Go is a relentless advocate for immigrant workers' rights and their successful integration into the Canadian workplace.As the executive director of Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care, Amy needed qualified staff for her three long-term care facilities. She saw a large, untapped pool of internationally trained nurses who had been struggling, and often failing, to obtain their license to practice in Canada. Amy rallied community agencies, secured Ministry of Health support and helped launch CARE for Nurses - a pilot project to help internationally trained nurses get their licenses. Eighty percent of CARE participants passed their licensing exam on the first try - up from 34% without CARE support. Today, CARE is a permanent government-funded program with Amy as the Chair. In the past four years, CARE has helped 400 immigrant nurses work in their field. While Amy was spearheading CARE, she was also launching a partnership between Yee Hong and George Brown Community College to create a Registered Practical Nurse certificate program with built-in support for candidates not proficient in English. She also started the first partnership with the York Region School Board to provide Personal Support Worker training. Over half the Health Care Aides in Yee Hong's new long-term care centres are graduates of these programs. For the past 20 years, Amy has promoted the well-being of immigrant women. As president of the Chinese Canadian National Council in the 1990s, she lobbied for the first Employment Equity Legislation in Canada. She was appointed by the Provincial Government to review Social Assistance Legislation for its impact on sponsored immigrants. She was also recently invited to join the Task Force on Modernizing Income Security for Working Aged Adults. Individual - Ken Pustai, Senior Vice-president, TD Bank Financial GroupKen Pustai remembers what it was like to start school with a foreign accent. That experience forged his commitment to integrating immigrants into the Canadian workplace.As senior vice-president, Human Resources at TD Bank Financial Group, Ken is ideally placed to put this commitment into action. Within TD, he spearheaded the Diversity Leadership Council, which views hiring immigrants as not merely an HR matter, but as a business imperative for a bank that serves one in ten Canadians. It has developed a position paper and business plan, and set ambitious annual and three-year goals that go well beyond government requirements. With Ken's leadership, TD also created a new position - Vice-president of Diversity Initiatives and Programs - to ensure TD hires the most skilled candidates, regardless of background. Ken led TD's participation in two programs for immigrant professionals: Career Bridge and The Mentoring Partnership. As an early supporter of the TRIEC, Ken made the business case for TD's involvement in Career Bridge. So far, TD has helped 24 Career Bridge interns launch their Canadian careers. The program's success has led TD to commit to 15 Career Bridge candidates in 2006. Ken also championed TD's partnership with TRIEC's Mentoring Partnership. This year, TD has 86 mentors helping new immigrants - making TD the program's lead corporate sponsor. Ken himself is an enthusiastic two-time mentor. He helps newcomers understand the Canadian marketplace, recognize their own strengths, hone their job search techniques and build contacts. Ken believes that hiring skilled immigrants is good for TD, good for business and good for Canada. He has given many talks on the benefits of hiring immigrants, both within and outside TD. Ken's leadership was recently recognized by the Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, who sought his suggestions for serving both immigrants and the Canadian business community.
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