Engineering Conference Highlights Ontario's Looming Skills Shortage

-- Skills for Change presents event which will introduce top employers to huge untapped pool of educated and experienced immigrant engineers --

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TORONTO, March 29, 2012 /CNW/ - Skills for Change, a specialist in employment success for internationally educated professionals, presents the Engineering for Excellence conference on March 8 at MaRS Discovery District. The first-of-its-kind conference will bring together industry experts, prominent Canadian employers and more than 200 internationally trained engineers to discuss opportunities and solutions around a forecasted shortfall of 2,000 engineers in Ontario over the next three years. From now until 2018, employment growth for engineers in the province is expected to be among the highest in the country*, yet only 15 per cent of the 2,500 foreign-trained engineers immigrating to Ontario each year are working in their field.

"Ontario is attracting top engineers through immigration - bringing with them an estimated $250 million worth of education each year - but the province is failing to put them to work. After working to attract such valuable talent, Ontario must do a much better job at leveraging their skills and experience if it hopes to foster the innovation needed to remain competitive in the global economy," says Cheryl May, Executive Director of Skills for Change.

*Source: Statistics Canada, C4SE, Prism Economics and Analysis

The conference, hosted by bridging program partners across Ontario and funded by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, features a keynote speech by Ontario's Fairness Commissioner and the first African-Canadian woman to be elected to the House of Commons, Honorable Jean Augustine. It also hosts top Canadian employers, such as TELUS, SNC Lavalin, Power-One and Honeywell. The conference will be webcast due to overwhelming demand.

About Skills for Change
For thirty years, Canadian not-for-profit, Skills for Change, has been providing strategic support and employment solutions to internationally educated professionals, helping people arriving in Canada connect with companies invested in diversity hiring. Courses are developed to assist professionals in obtaining the certification needed to meet Canadian employment standards. Career transitioning for international medical doctors and engineers, technical skills certification for tradespeople and specialized English-as-a-second-language studies are just some of the programs offered. For more information, please visit skillsforchange.org

Julia Harper
Idea Workshop
[email protected]
416-504-3977 x 25
647-330-4706 (cell)