Hundreds of skilled immigrants are now meaningfully employed in Calgary, thanks to a project between Shell Canada and United Way of Calgary and area.

The Shell Immigrant Employment Project, started six years ago and funded through a $1.8M grant from the company, achieved its goal of enhancing employment opportunities for immigrants.

“Thanks to Shell’s leadership, Calgary now has a stronger network of resources and opportunities to help newcomers flourish,” says Lucy Miller, President and CEO of United Way of Calgary and Area in a release on Tuesday.

Dejan Ciric, who emigrated from Serbia in January 2013 with his wife and three small children, is one of the newcomers who’ve been connected with a job through the program.

Ciric has a university degree in economics and years of experience at multinational companies across Europe.

“When I came here, I assumed it would be easy to find a job,” Ciric said. “But it wasn’t. Everything is different – from resumes to cover letters to the way people communicate.”

After being forced to take a number of ‘survival jobs’, he heard about the project through the Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council (CRIEC).

He was then matched with Brenda Desjardins, a field leader at Telus, and met with her on a weekly basis to discuss resumes, job postings, interviews, and Canadian work culture.

Ciric is now employed as a pricing analyst.

“One-on-one mentoring taught me more than any class ever could,” says Ciric. “I learned soft skills and how to communicate. It’s helped me build a better future for myself and my family.”

 

The Shell Immigrant Employment Project has:

  • Filled 797 job vacancies have been filled by internationally trained professionals, improving the diversity of Calgary organizations
  • Trained 200 professionals from business, government, and the not-for-profit sector as mentors for immigrants seeking employment
  • Held information sessions and training for over 3,000 immigrants to learn about workplace culture in Calgary and resources available to them
  • Created five new programs in collaboration with immigrant-serving agencies to help new Canadians plug into employment opportunities