Policy and Research Coordinator,
Steven Isidori
Email: sisidori@mbot.com
Phone: 905-273-6151 ext. 38
Address: Mississauga Board of Trade
701-77 City Centre Drive,
Mississauga, Ontario
L5B 1M5 Canada
Business without Borders, Diversity Knocks - October 25, 2010
Paul Beamish hired Gigi Wong because of her answer to a simple question: how would she react if a Chinese businessman belched after his meal? It was a difference in cultural etiquette he'd observed hosting Asian clients and wanted to know how a prospective employee would handle the situation. A Canadian-born job candidate said she'd politely tell the person to stop, but Wong had the correct response. "I would ignore it," she said. "It's a sign they are enjoying themselves."
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| ITS in Mississauga (International Trained and Skilled in Mississauga) is an employer focused program delivered by the Mississauga Board of Trade, geared at assisting Mississauga businesses with the employment integration of foreign trained professionals. Through an employer awareness campaign, the program will increase awareness amongst employers on the benefits of hiring foreign trade professionals and the resources, tools and services available to support the hiring, integration, training and retention of skilled immigrants. | |
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Gigantic Newcomer Speed Mentoring Event
(Speed Mentoring in Action); For more pictures click here. Mississauga, Tuesday, November 27th, 2012- Mississauga Board of Trade (MBOT) in partnership with ACCES Employment would like to thank the 100+ individuals who made the GIGANTIC Newcomer Speed Mentoring Event a huge success. The event which was held on November 26th at the Grand Metropolitan of Mississauga was part of MBOT’s ITS (Internationally Trained & Skilled) in Mississauga program. ITS in is an employer focused program delivered by the Mississauga Board of Trade, geared at assisting Mississauga businesses with the employment integration of foreign trained professionals. “We’re very fortunate in Mississauga to have a large pool of skilled newcomers who choose to live work and play in our wonderful city. They not only want, but do contribute to our community and businesses. Unfortunately some experience barriers & challenges when looking to integrate into our workforce”, says Steven Isidori, Policy & Research Coordinator for the Mississauga Board of Trade and project coordinator for the ITS in Mississauga program. “It is very encouraging to see so many local businesses and agencies come out and participate in today’s event; it shows that they ‘get it’, they realize skilled newcomers have immense talent to offer and sometimes simply need some mentoring/advice to guide them in the right direction. “ Participants include: ACCES Employment, University of Toronto Mississauga, Sheridan College, Advantage Mississauga, WFG Securities of Canada Inc., Regus, BIZ TV Canada, Manga Hotels, Maxxam Analytics, ARO Teams, TorontoJobs.ca, and many more! For more information please contact Steven Isidori at sisidori@mbot.com Leveraging the Talent of Skilled Immigrants in Your Workplace
Mississauga, Ontario (September 25, 2012) –Mississauga Board of Trade (MBOT) program ITS (Internationally Trained & Skilled) in Mississauga hosted “Leveraging the Talent of Skilled Immigrants in Your Workplace” at Living Arts Centre, Mississauga. The morning event included seminars “The ROI of Immigrant Inclusion” in partnership with TRIEC and Strategic Capability Network and “Five Secrets to Cross-Cultural Management”. A business discussion panel moderated by RBC included AMEX Canada Technologies, Kelk Corporation, Maxxam Analytics and MELLOHAWK Logistics. Each company discussed the business drivers that led them to implement immigrant inclusion strategies and the bottom-line success they have enjoyed as a result. “As we saw heard the panel, having a strategy to engage skilled immigrants is about unlocking new business potential, as opposed to serving a diversity mandate,” said Rodel Imbarlina-Ramos, manager of corporate and stakeholder relations for TRIEC in Peel and Halton. “These leading employers are proving that you can drive innovation, or tap new and diversifying local markets, as well as international business and supply chain opportunities, by leveraging the skills, contacts, language and cultural knowledge that skilled immigrants can provide. These are strong, bottom-line reasons for having an immigrant integration strategy.” - Rodel Imbarlina-Ramos, TRIEC In addition to the business discussion panel Bill Dennis, Cross-Cultural Specialist spoke about his five secrets to successful cross-cultural management. “Relatively few of the 192 countries in the world have a culture similar to Canada. If a manager does not understand someone from a different culture, it can be very challenging to successfully manage them. For example, what is considered to be a “good manager” in one culture can be seen as being a “poor manager” in a different culture.” – Bill Dennis, Cultural & Generational Training
Bill has provided over 4,500 hours of training to Continuing Education students at Sheridan College, Humber College, and Mohawk College.
MBOT Hosts Diversity @ Work
The ITS in Mississauga program, in partnership with Skills for Change, hosted "Diversity @ Work" on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at the Mississauga Grand Banquet and Convention Centre. The morning event was host to two seminars touching on topics, such as cross cultural communications and team building in the workplace. The event proved to be informative and eye opening to an audience consisting of employers, HR professionals and students from triOS College. Mississauga Board of Trade 2nd Annual Job Fair
(March 13, 2012)Over 500 job seekers congregated at the Living Arts Centre last Thursday for the Mississauga Board of Trade’s 2nd annual job fair. The job fair was part of MBOT’s ITS’s in Mississauga program, an employer focused program geared at assisting Mississauga businesses with the employment integration of foreign trained professionals. Through an employer awareness campaign, the program is designed to increase awareness amongst employers on the benefits of hiring foreign trade professionals and the resources, tools and services available to support the hiring, integration, training and retention of skilled immigrants.
40 employers from different sectors lined the atrium of the Living Arts Centre, ranging from large companies such as Ingram Micro, UPS, Canada Post and RBC Insurance to local Mississauga SME’s like Nurse Next Door and Power Saving Systems Inc. Local community partners such as University of Toronto Mississauga, ACCES Employment and Career Edge Organization were also present, providing employment advice and highlighting their many programs and serves to help individuals become gainfully employed. The event proved to be a success for both employers and job seekers, as many employers were able to meet with candidates that suited the positions they were hiring for. Sherry-Anne Bedminster from RBC Royal Bank was able to arrange many interviews with qualified candidates, while other employers had the opportunity to meet hundreds of job seekers face to face. Employers were impressed with the quality of the candidates and were enthused to conduct further interviews. MBOT will highlight the hiring success stories that result from the job fair on the ITS in Mississauga website in the coming months. |
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 OneCAD Solutions on the hiring of Internationally Trained & Skilled New Canadians OneCAD Solutions Ltd. has found great success in hiring new Canadians who bring with them a wealth of mechanical engineering and manufacturing experience along with a positive attitude as they successfully continue their engineering career here in Canada. It has just made good business sense for OneCAD to include internationally trained and skilled (ITS) new Canadians in its staffing mix as they contribute to OneCAD’s growth in a very competitive manufacturing environment. |
 MBOT Hosts Employer Seminar with The Honourable Charles Sousa (March 13, 2012 - Mississauga, Ontario) On March 8th, 2012, Mississauga Board of Trade (MBOT) hosted, “Hiring & Integrating Internationally Trained Professionals into the Workforce” at The Living Arts Centre. The event was funded by the Ontario Government and an initiative of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) and featured keynote speaker, The Honourable Charles Sousa, Ontario Minister of Citizenship & Immigration and Minister Responsible for the 2015 Pan/Parapan Am Games. |
ITS in Mississauga is part of the Global Experience @ Work (GE@W) initiative. Through GE@W, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce has supported over 20 community projects led by local chambers of commerce and boards of trade throughout the province to better integrate foreign trained professionals into the labour force by connecting workers and potential employers.