Internship Opportunities with Non Profit Employer Engagement Project

World Skills Employment Centre is seeking partnerships with non profit employers to provide internship opportunities for newcomers.  This initiative is part of the Non Profit Employer Engagement Project, which is funded by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.

The objective of the internship program is to create an active engagement between newcomer professionals and employers in the non-profit sector in order to:

a) Introduce newcomers to opportunities to apply their international skills, experience, and passion for the sector within a local workplace

b) Provide local non-profit employers with skilled, international talent to fill short term needs within their programs, services, and departments

c) Offer the opportunity for local non-profit employers to facilitat newcomer integration while supporting diversity and inclusion policies within their existing teams

As you may already know, a key target of Ontario’s Immigration Strategy is to encourage employers to develop or expand mentorship, internship and on-the-job training programs for newcomers. Non-profit Employer Engagement Program staff will be actively partnering with a variety of local non-profit employers to recruit, screen, and endorse skilled newcomers for short term (3 months or less), paid opportunities within their organizations. There need not be an ongoing opportunity within the organization in order to partner with us on this initiative!

Do you have an anticipated need? Filling the vacancy is as easy as 1, 2, 3…

• Send an email to jobs@ottawa-worldskills.org, including a job posting or brief description of the position
• Program staff will connect with you to confirm any additional pre-screening details and hiring timeline
• You will receive a short list of qualified and motivated candidates, ready and able to meet with you for final selection

As per the Employment Standards Act, Interns should be compensated for their contribution to the team with at least the current minimum wage. World Skills encourages the use of an on-the-job mentor, or “buddy”, to aid in the orientation and onboarding of the new Intern.

World Skills Experience in Coordinating Internship Programs

World Skills has several years of experience supporting Federal Government, crown corporations, and private organizations to source and recruit talent for short-term vacancies. A few of our recent internship partners include:

• Export Development Canada (EDC)
• Goss Gilroy Inc. Management Consultants
• Foreign Credential & Referral Office, the Federal Internship for Newcomers

Federal Internship for Newcomers Program: A Case Study

In partnership with the Foreign Credential Referral Office over the past 7 years, World Skills has been coordinating the Federal Internship for Newcomers Program (FINP), which offers short term contracts within federal government departments to qualified newcomers in the fields of administration, project management, policy and research, finance, and computer science. This initiative has grown over the years, with a total of 427 internships completed across Canada since the 2010-2011 program year (over 60% of which were filled by World Skills clients in the Ottawa-Gatineau area). These Interns hailed from over 45 different countries of origin, and represented a variety of skills and competencies.

Why hire an internationally trained Intern? Simple, it makes good business sense:

• Leverage the talents of a highly educated pool of candidates – Immigrants comprise 27% of Ottawa’s labour force with an undergraduate degree, 37% with a graduate degree, and nearly 60% of candidates with PhDs
• Fresh, global perspective – immigrants bring global experience, intelligence, and often connections, from abroad in addition to novel perspectives and specialized strengths/skill sets
• Take advantage of short-term support – an additional skilled staff member within the organization means your existing team members can be more efficient in completing their tasks, as well as to potentially free up some time for them to work on special projects, or funding proposals
• “Test drive” a candidate before hiring or develop a pool of potential applicants for future opportunities – through an internship, you will be able to directly observe how an individual fits within your organization: their work habits, motivation, attitude, and skills
• Potential for increased workforce retention – during the internship period, the Intern will be developing a better understanding of what it would be like to work for your organization; these candidates will be better informed of the mission, vision, and values of the organization, as well as the workplace culture and expectations of employees. You will be confident that a past Intern who accepts a job offer is making an informed decision based on their identification with the work you do, and your workplace culture
• Increase the visibility of your organization in order to support operations – by promoting an internship program, you can increase the awareness of the work that you do. People will see you giving back to the local community in a different way (than may be your organization’s primary mandate), which could lead to new funding streams, access to a greater pool of volunteers, and/or additional donated resources from community members

We are looking forward to connecting with you.

Connect with Magdalene@ottawa-worldskills.org or Andy@ottawa-worldskills.org

Tel:  613 2330453 x 366