Build Connections with Professional Immigrant Networks

Lack of professional connections and understanding of Canadian corporate culture are the primary obstacles to finding meaningful employment for newcomers to Canada. One great strategy to build your connections in Canada is by joining a professional immigrant network.

In 2011, Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) engaged more than 35 professional immigrant networks from a diversity of professions and ethnocultural backgrounds - from the Latin American MBA Alumni Network to the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada and the Association of Filipino Canadian Accountants. Collectively they serve more than 30,000 members.

Recently, TRIEC, with funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada and sponsorship from Scotiabank,introduced a new website, as part of the Professional Immigrant Networks initiative (PINs), to make it easier to forge connections between these networks and skilled immigrants as well as with employers and service providers.

Featuring a network directory searchable by profession or ethno-cultural group, success stories, an event calendar and background on the network of networks, the new PINs website helps newcomers access these professional immigrant networks and through them build the connections they need to find meaningful employment. PINs also invites service providers looking to raise awareness of their services and interested in helping build the capacity of professional immigrant networks to become partners. To learn more and connect with PINs, visit www.NetworksForImmigrants.ca.