Other Mentoring Programs

Job Mentoring Programs for Foreign Trained Engineers

Members may use each hour of mentoring as one professional development hour for our Continuing Professional Development program.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is a non-profit social service agency primarily serving the Chinese community at 12 locations in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Founded in 1973, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. now provides 100,000 service units to 60,000 individuals per year, and offers comprehensive network of services and programs which directly enrich the ethnic Canadian society. Website: www.success.bc.ca

Funded by Human Resources Development Canada, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. has recently introduced a "Job Mentoring Program" to help foreign trained professionals to integrate into our community. Through this program, these foreign trained professionals are matched with a "mentor" who will spend 4-16 hours to help them learn about the labour market in their intended field of expertise, pre-requisites, qualifications and work experience required, and Canadian work culture.

For this purpose, we would like to seek your participation in this program as a mentor to these professionals for a minimum of 4 hours. Professional engineers who have been in the engineering field for a few years, and have relevant qualifications and Canadian work experience would be ideal mentors.

Currently, we have require mentors in the following disciplines:

• Civil Engineers (Specializing in Water Supply and Sewage system)
• Structural Engineers
• Environmental/ Chemical Engineers

For more information about the program and how to join us as a mentor, please contact Mr K.C. Chau of SUCCESS at kcchau@success.bc.ca.

SPEATBC

The Society of Punjabi Engineers And Technologists of British Columbia is a non-profit organization, which has successfully brought together Engineers and Technologists from different disciplines from both Canada and the Indian subcontinent. SPEATBC was incorporated under the Societies Act of British Columbia on May 16, 1995. SPEATBC represents all disciplines including Electrical, Computer, Civil, Mechanical, Chemical, Environmental, Metallurgical Engineers and all Applied Science Technologists and Technicians. SPEATBC provides free services to its growing number of members, which has reached over 270 members this year.

The SPEATBC Mentorship Program is designed for recent immigrants and students, who may be unfamiliar with the career placement options in Engineering and Technology in British Columbia. For more information, visit the web site at: http://www.speatbc.org/mentorship.cfm.

MULTICULTURAL HELPING HOUSE SOCIETY

Mentoring Program for Immigrants in Professions and Trades

Program Objectives - To assist newly arrived immigrants to gain a better understanding of job opportunities, educational/ accreditation requirements, and work practice in the profession or trade of their preparation by providing mentors for immigrants.

For more information, visit the web site at http://www.helpinghouse.org/programs_services.html.

INTER-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA

The Inter-Cultural Association of Victoria (ICA) is a non-profit association in Greater Victoria that combines arts and social services to address the needs of immigrants and refugees and to promote the embracing of cultural diversity in the community. For more information, please visit: www.icavictoria.org.

Host Mentoring Services is a program that is offered to immigrants and refugees who have been trained in a profession or trade in their home country and who wish to practice in Canada. The program matches these professionals with qualified mentors in the same or related career field. Together, mentor and mentee explore such topics as the local job market, professional credentials, networking, job-specific language, and Canadian workplace culture. These activities help the immigrant professionals understand their field of work in the Canadian context.

Mentors are not expected to find the newcomers work or to provide career counseling. The program mostly consists of a mutually beneficial exchange of professional knowledge. Mentors often say that they learn just as much or more from the experience as mentees.

The ICA generally encourages a commitment of 3-6 months with weekly or biweekly meetings, although the program is flexible to accommodate the needs and schedules of our clients and volunteers. Engineering mentors are particularly sought after, since many of our immigrant clients come from a variety of engineering backgrounds. These individuals are often unprepared for the certification process that engineers face in Canada and require extra guidance to understand and undergo certification. For more information about how to become a mentor, please contact Karolien Swaak, Host Mentoring Services Facilitator, by phone (250) 388-4728 ext. 122 or email kswaak@icavictoria.org.