PICS offers a highly informative, hands-on employment program called the Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants Program, which is funded by the Government of British Columbia, through the Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology.
The Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS) provides support, programming and services for new immigrants to assist with their transition to Canada. They currently offer a highly informative, hands-on employment program called the Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants Program, which is funded by the Government of British Columbia, through the Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology.
The program provides customized services for up to 22 months to assist skilled immigrants with experience in Sales and Service occupations such as Corporate Sales Management, Retail and Wholesale Trades Management, and Restaurant & Food Services Management, to ultimately obtain employment in their field of specialization. Shameemah Kalaichelvan, Manager of Employment Programs at PICS, explains that the program “will assist in pursuing a career path that will help them find a commensurate level of employment based on their pre-arrival education and experience. The intention is to eradicate underemployment and unemployment of the skilled immigrants.”
This program assists participants with the integration process into the Canadian labour market from the very beginning, including job search assistance, education funding to fill skill gaps, workshops to coach participants in becoming ‘job-ready’, personalized career path planning, networking events and mentorship opportunities. Employment for this program encompasses all positions and titles that come under three National Occupational
Classification (NOC) codes:
0601- Corporate Sales Managers
0621- Retail and Wholesale Trade Managers
0631- Restaurant and Food Service Managers
As skilled immigrant participants embark on their career path in Canada, the program also assists them with a Temporary Aligned Employment which is a stage in between their initial enrolment in the program and their goal employment. Shameemah takes pride in the fact that the program contains great work experience opportunities and mentorship each step of the way: “We work with each participant in parallel with respect to their short-term and long-term employment goals. Participants of our program are also assisted with occupation-specific language training by VCC and practicum opportunities with local employers as per the need.” Additionally, the PICS Career Paths staff team is very friendly, client-focused and works on flexible hours to accommodate participant needs and help them reach their employment goals in BC.
PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY:
To be eligible for this opportunity, candidates must be:
• A Permanent Resident of Canada, no more than five years
• A person who is awaiting PR Status per confirmation letter from IRCC
OR
Convention refugee and protected person outside Canada who have been selected for resettlement in Canada by IRCC
• Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 6 or above (Intermediate to Advanced English)
• Three years of pre-arrival experience in the fields of Sales and Service (one year for youth
19-30 years of age)
• Underemployed or unemployed in Canadian Labour Market
• Not receiving EI or BCEA
REGISTRATION
Tel: 604-596-7722
Email: careerpaths@pics.bc.ca
PROGRAM LOCATION
Surrey BC: #205, 12725 - 80th Ave, V3W 3A6
Vancouver BC: 8153 Main St, V5X 3L2
PICS offers this program province-wide through remote services