When Mayor John Rodriguez came to Canada from Guyana in 1956 as an 18-year-old man, he only had $50 in his pocket, and needed to land a job right away.

“The first thing they would ask me was 'What Canadian experience do you have?'” Rodriguez said. “I said, 'Well, none. I just got off the boat.' I'd go to the next (interview), and I'd get the same thing (over and over).

“Finally I blew my stack and said 'Well, of course I don't have any Canadian experience. If you don't hire me, how am I going to get Canadian experience?' I was real pissed off about that.”

We need in-migration here to fulfill many of the budding roles that are occurring in our community at the moment.

Mayor John Rodriguez

Eventually, Rodriguez phoned the Ontario Ministry of Education to have his high school qualifications reviewed, and was accepted into teacher's college.

Rodriguez shared some of his early immigrant experiences Aug. 25 at the launch of Professions North, a new program aimed at helping internationally-trained professionals get work in their field.

It is being run by Laurentian University's faculty of management out of an office located at 128 Durham St., and is funded by a $3.2 million grant from the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.

The program currently only has enough funding to last until 2012, but organizers hope to keep the program running beyond that date.

“Let's face it, we're not on the fly routes of immigrants,” Rodriguez said. “We need in-migration here to fulfill many of the budding roles that are occurring in our community at the moment. This program is going to put us on that (immigrant) fly route.”

Sylvie Albert, director of Laurentian's faculty of management, said all foreign professionals are welcome to contact Professions North to receive help in ensuring they have all the necessary documentation to be accredited by professional organizations in Canada.

She said the organization also offers help to all foreign professionals who want help with “soft skills” such as learning how to land interviews and jobs in Canada, and how to function in a Canadian workplace.

Professions North will also offer online courses for internationally-trained finance and accounting professionals. Some of these courses will be provided through a partnership with Ryerson University, she said.

“Ryerson University had already developed a number of program for internationally-trained professionals,” Albert said.

“In that program, they have already put online a number of accounting courses. So we're not going to duplicate them. If the some of the internationally-trained professionals in the north need some of these courses, we're going to send them to Ryerson.

“For the courses that are not available at Ryerson or other locations, we are writing our own (courses), and we'll make them available online.”

Albert said it is easier to provide courses in accounting and finance because they don't require practical lab work, as some other professions do. She said Professions North may eventually expand to providing courses in other fields as well.

Matthias Takouda, course development officer with Professions North. Photo by Heidi Ulrichsen.

Professions North has also developed a partnership with Contact North, an organization which provides access to technology to students so they can access academic programs without having to leave their community.

“It would be extremely expensive for us to establish offices around the north,” Albert said. “Contact North already has a number of offices around the north, with the staff and the technology. We're very happy to do a partnership with them.”

Matthias Takouda, a course development co-ordinator with Professions North and part-time Commerce professor at Laurentian University, said he came to Canada six years ago.

The PhD recipient is originally from Togo, a French-speaking country in West Africa, and has also worked in England.

When asked if he thinks he's fulfilled his potential in Canada, Takouda said things could be better for him.

“I could be working full-time,” he said. “I've basically had a lot of part-time contracts. I am basically still learning and adapting to the Canadian academic environment.”

Takouda said he knows a lot of immigrants who are struggling to find a job in their field.

“You come to a new culture and have to adapt to the new country, “he said.

“It takes time. Having a program like this one is something that can speed up the process (for immigrants) because you can go to one place and find all the information that can be useful for you in terms of knowing what you can do with your qualifications and your experience.”

For more information about the program, phone 705-222-1766 or e-mail cj_loranger@laurentian.ca.