[b]Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, February 02, 2008 Article tools[/b]
One of the biggest problems for professionally trained immigrants is simply getting their foot in the door of Canadian companies.
To help ease that transition, a program called Career Bridge helps those immigrants by organizing internships with local firms.
"It's about helping them launch a career in Canada and, most importantly, about getting that Canadian work experience," said the program's B.C. regional director Lesley Wood Bernbaum in an interview. "Many [new immigrants] need to take the first job that comes along. But this gets them into the right door."
Career Bridge is a program offered by Career Edge, a non-profit organization that has been active in Toronto for several years, but that only recently opened an office in Vancouver.
According to Bernbaum, the Career Bridge program gives newcomers the opportunity to apply their skills and expertise in the Canadian workplace. Since its inception in 2003, she said, the program has launched roughly 700 careers with more than 200 organizations.
The program has launched two careers since its startup in Vancouver, she added.
Bernbaum said that the Vancouver branch also has a pool of approximately 45 candidates that have completed the application process and met the required standards.
She said that other internships are now being negotiated and that the B.C. branch has formed host partnerships with several companies, including Alcan, BC Hydro, CIBC, GE Canada, Canada Trust and Telus.
Bernbaum said their immigrant clients want an opportunity to get their career underway in Canada, so Career Bridge connects them with host employers who post internship positions.
Bernbaum said that all Career Bridge candidates are screened for business-level English language skills and their academic qualifications are verified for Canadian equivalency. She said that many candidates bring with them post-secondary education, plus solid experience in business, information technology, engineering and a host of other disciplines.
Internships can last from four months to a year, with most interns getting work in their field of expertise, usually with the employer who hosted their internship. "Over 80 per cent of our interns are hired permanently. The results are very, very high."
Bernbaum said the internships not only provide Canadian work experience for immigrants in their chosen field, but also help them integrate into the Canadian business culture and gain networking experience.
Bernbaum said companies hiring interns pay Career Edge a one-time fee of $3,000. She said Career Bridge also works closely with local organizations that help immigrants.
There is no cost to the intern, she added.
One man who is happy he contacted Career Bridge is Esteban Cazorla, a Venezuelan immigrant who arrived in Canada last March and now works full time as a senior personal banking officer with Scotiabank in Langley.
"It [Career Bridge] definitely was a great help," said Cazorla, who lives in south Surrey with his wife and children. "Honestly, I didn't know it would happen so fast. I've referred some other people to Career Bridge. I recommend it to everybody."