Posts Tagged ‘ALLIES’

ALLIES Report: More Employers Adopt Good Immigrant Employment Practices

Sunday, March 24th, 2013

ALLIES—a joint initiative of the Maytree Foundation and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation—recently released a report on ways that employers are improving immigrant employment practices.

The report, More Employers Adopt Good Immigrant Employment Practices—based on a five-year review of applications to the Best Employers for New Canadians competition—highlights successful practices and provides recommendations on how employers can lead their peers by implementing immigrant employment strategies.

On March 13, the winners of the 2013 Best Employers for New Canadians competition were announced in the Globe and Mail, click here to see who made the list.

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ALLIES: New Report on SMEs

Friday, April 13th, 2012

ALLIES—a joint initiative of the Maytree Foundation and the McConnell Foundation—recently released a new report, Global Talent for SMEs: Building Bridges and Making Connections, which highlights new ways to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to hire skilled immigrants.

Consultations for the report included 300 small-business owners in five focus groups across Canada, and individual interviews with entrepreneurs. The report notes that SMEs face skills and labour shortages, and compete with larger businesses for skilled talent. However, due to a lack of HR personnel and resources, SMEs are underutilizing the skills and talents of immigrants in the workforce.

“The potential impact of engaging SMEs in immigrant employment strategies can have significant positive outcomes for local labour markets across different sectors and regions,” says Ratna Omidvar, president of Maytree. “In the private sector alone, SMEs employ 6.7 million Canadians. Effectively engaging SMEs will have an enormous effect on SMEs, skilled immigrants, and on the Canadian economy.”

To learn more about the work of ALLIES, visit www.alliescanada.ca.

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ALLIES: Best Employers for New Canadians Announced

Monday, March 26th, 2012

The winners of the 2012 Best Employers for New Canadians competition were recently announced in The Globe and Mail.

The competition—a partnership between Canada’s Top 100 Employers project and ALLIES, a joint initiative of the Maytree Foundation and the McConnell Family Foundation—celebrates employers who have reached out to support newcomers in practical and welcoming ways.

“Each one of this year’s winning employers has developed and implemented practices which have given them a competitive edge. They demonstrate in different ways how recognizing international credentials, mentoring, and effective onboarding are helping them build a diverse and dynamic workforce.”

Some of the recognized employers include: Bombardier Aerospace, The McGill University Health Centre, Energy Resources Conservation Board, BMO Financial Group, and KPMG LLP. For the complete list of winners, click here.

To learn more about the ALLIES initiative, visit www.alliescanada.ca.

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ALLIES Releases New Report

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

Assisting Local Leaders with Immigrant Employment Strategies (ALLIES)—a Maytree and Foundation program to support local efforts in Canadian cities to successfully adapt and implement programs that further the suitable employment of skilled immigrants—was recently profiled in the Globe and Mail.

The article highlights the findings of the recently released report, Global Talent for SMEs: Practical Ideas to Connect Small and Medium Businesses with the Skilled Immigrant Workforce.

The report is a result of the first stages of research ALLIES has undertaken to better understand the programs and policies that can engage and influence the human resource practices of SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises with less than 200 employees).

Drawing on an examination of programs, policies and organizational efforts aimed at SMEs in 10 provinces and 20 cities, and more than 50 interviews with key informants, this research proposes eight practical ideas for cities, service providers and employers.

Click here to learn more about the findings, and to download the report.

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ALLIES Mentoring Conference underway in Calgary

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

The 2011 ALLIES Mentoring Conference, which is showcasing innovative practices on mentoring from immigrant employment councils, employers and service delivery agencies from over 15 cities across Canada, is currently underway in Calgary.

Included in the roster of speakers is Calgary Mayor, Naheed Nenshi; Maytree President Ratna Omidvar; and the Foundation’s own Tim Brodhead and Stephen Huddart.

Mentoring is fast becoming one of the most popular ways to connect skilled immigrants with established Canadian professionals in the same or related occupation. And it works – many skilled immigrants have found employment using the skills and connections gained through the mentoring relationship.

Learn more about ALLIES’ National Mentoring Initiative from their website.

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ALLIÉS Montréal launches mentoring program

Friday, April 15th, 2011

ALLIÉS Montréal, an organization that aims to integrate skilled immigrants into the workforce, recently launched its mentoring program. The April 7 launch event included nearly one hundred businesses and organizations and featured a speech by Foundation Chief Operating Officer Stephen Huddart, where he emphasized the value of cross-sectoral collaboration to support continuous social innovation.

Also featured at the event was “Parcours inspirants,” an exhibition of 24 photographic portraits and profiles that showcase the successes and trials of new immigrants to Montreal. The profiles, which have run in the newspaper Métro Montréal since April 2009, are on display at Place Ville-Marie until April 30.

ALLIÉS Montréal is an initiative of the Conférence régionale des élus (CRÉ), a regional coordinating agency for Metropolitan Montreal, and is part of the wider network of ALLIES Canada, an initiative of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation in partnership with the Maytree Foundation.

Learn more about the ALLIES National Mentoring Initiative here.

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2011 Best Employers for New Canadians announced

Monday, April 4th, 2011

The winners of the 2011 Best Employers for New Canadians competition were recently announced in The Globe and Mail. The winners have created exemplary working environments that welcome the skills and experience new immigrants bring them.  Some of the large employers to earning this recognition are the Royal Bank of Canada, Ontario Public Service, and TELUS. See the entire listing here.

The competition is managed by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers in partnership with ALLIES, a joint initiative of the The Maytree Foundation and The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.

Learn more by reading “Tapping the talent of new Canadians,” a Globe and Mail discussion featuring Ratna Omidvar, president of the Maytree Foundation.

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ALLIES now accepting grant applications

Monday, December 6th, 2010

ALLIES is currently accepting applications for their funding program, focusing on three granting areas: Start-Up Grants, Resource Grants, and Innovation Grants.

The objective of the ALLIES funding program is to advance the appropriate employment of skilled immigrants by seeding local immigrant employment councils; strengthening the capacity of existing and viable local immigrant employment councils; and finding new and creative solutions and partners to further ALLIES’ cause.

ALLIES is joint initiative between the Maytree and McConnell foundations.

Learn more about the ALLIES funding program here.

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