Past News > Immigrant Success Award
FSA Toronto Wins First Immigrant Success Award
Post date: June 2006
Inscription reads:
Family Service Association of Toronto
2006 Immigrant Success Mid-size Employer Award Winner
For outstanding innovation and achievement in immigrant inclusive HR practices.
Over 40 per cent of new immigrants arriving in the 1990s had at least one university degree, compared to the Canadian average of 22 per cent. – Education in Canada: Raising the Standard, 2001
On May 31, 2006, FSA Toronto was one of four organizations and two individuals who were honoured at the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council's first annual Immigrant Success (IS) Awards.
FSA was selected the winner of the IS Award for the mid-size employer category (100 to 500 employees) in recognition of our leadership in such areas as creating hiring processes that are bias-free and inclusive, building an inclusive climate in our workplace and raising awareness and demonstrating leadership on the issue of workforce integration of new immigrants.
Quotes from FSA's award submission:
We are in service to the city's populace-a population that the United Nations has ranked as the most multicultural in the world. To be truly effective-truly "of service" to this city-we must reflect its multiculturalism.
Pushpa Kanagaratnam held a PhD in psychology, but "found the Canadian employment system very frustrating. Finding a job relevant to my training was beyond difficult.I had no opportunities, I was thinking of going home." It was a mention of Family Service Association of Toronto by an acquaintance that opened the door to success and career satisfaction for Pushpa. Pushpa finds FSA to be "very welcoming to people with different credentials and backgrounds."
FSA Toronto's commitment to anti-oppression is integral to our recruitment practices. Our hiring practices are also grounded in the principle of respect.
When Kolade first arrived in Canada from Africa four years ago, he faced the three barriers many newcomers find: he was unable to utilize his foreign accreditation, unable to obtain housing for lack of a credit history, and unable to find employment befitting his expertise. Not only was FSA Toronto the sole organization that put bearing on his skills and experience, but it allowed Kolade to excel in a managerial position.
The IS Awards were established to recognize organizations that excel at recruiting, retaining and promoting skilled immigrants. "Success is the outcome when your workforce comes from a highly qualified, educated and motivated talent pool," the TRIEC website notes, and winners of the IS Awards are recognized as leaders in an area of increasing importance to the Canadian economy.
A small, mid-sized and large organizational award were presented at a lunchtime ceremony hosted by RBC Financial Group, as well as two individual awards and an Influencer award for an organization that has promoted the hiring new immigrants outside the organization.
In accepting the award from Mark Galbraith, RBC Financial Group's host of the event, Yves Savoie, then-Executive Director of FSA Toronto, said, "This is a great honour for us. The unfortunate fact that racism continues to exist in our society is one that not many people want to admit. At FSA we have taken deliberate steps to address the barriers new immigrants and visible minorities face. Our journey is not over and with each step we renew our efforts. This award is recognition that the richness of the diversity at FSA reflects the richness of communities across Toronto."
In her acceptance speech, Individual Award winner Amy Go from the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care highlighted FSA Toronto's anti-oppression framework as an example for all and urged others in the room to be ambassadors for Canada by fulfilling our country’s reputation for inclusion, which has attracted so many people from around the world to our door.
Other IS Award winners included I 3DVR (Small Employer), Ernst & Young (Large Employer), St. Michael’s Hospital (Influencer) and Ken Pustai (Individual).
The awards ceremony was part of a week of events celebrating the immigrants who have contributed to the vibrancy of the Canadian marketplace.
Pushpa Kanagaratnam, an FSA Toronto counsellor, was featured in a photo display in BCE Place's Allen Lambert Galleria that ran from May 26 to June 2. The display, called 20 Journeys: A Visual Essay of the Immigrant Experience, profiles 20 new immigrants, their aspirations and their experiences here in Canada.
