Navigate the Canadian job market with help from Pinoy employers, professionals

Navigate the Canadian job market with help from Pinoy employers, professionals

Attendee registering at the reception area of the job fair held in Vaughn, Ontario in late October.
Photo: Veronica C. Silva

Pinoy newcomers, international students

November 28, 2023

By Veronica C. Silva

LJI Reporter

The Philippine Reporter

Newly arrived kababayans who are either newcomers or international students recently tried to get a feel of the Canadian job market through a job fair organized by established Filipino professionals, the University of the Philippine Alumni Association Toronto, and the Philippine Consulate General of Toronto.

The job fair held in Vaughn, Ont. in late October preceded a one-day professionals’ convention where job seekers and more established kababayans shared notes and learned from professionals who have learned the ropes. Most of these established professionals are either licensed or certified to practise in regulated professions in Ontario.

Among the job seekers were international students Erica Rivera and Claire Garcia, newcomer Arnold Bautista, and open work-permit holder Robert Massambol. At the job fair, they told The Philippine Reporter that they were there to check out job opportunities available to them – now and in the future.

On hand to help them in their search were some Filipino-owned companies, including Lumbao Architects, and mechanical and engineering consultancy Galang Consultancy Services.

Rivera is a student at Seneca College while Garcia is studying in Centennial College. Both are looking at jobs related to either their educational credentials in the Philippines or their work experience. Rivera was a mechanical engineer in the Philippines and is looking into building operations work or any service job. Garcia was a flight attendant and is studying international business while working in a real estate firm.

Rivera said she’s looking for a job related to her program in Seneca, i.e., building engineering technician, to prepare her for opportunities after she gets her post-graduate work permit (PGWP).

International students in Canada can apply for PGWP after they complete their education. The PGWP allows them to get full-time jobs that can qualify them to apply for permanent residence. As international students, they are permitted to work limited hours, so they look forward to the PGWP.

Rivera said she is also looking into getting an engineering licence in Canada that is also why she attended the job fair.

Garcia said she was looking to network at the job fair also to prepare her for job opportunities for when she gets her PGWP and explore the possibility of getting a licence to practise in real estate in Canada.

Real estate is a regulated profession in Ontario.

Rommel Lumbao, who is a licensed architect practising almost all over Canada, said he participated in the job fair to help newly arrived kababayans. As owner of his architectural firm, Lumbao said he is always on the lookout for job seekers needing Canadian experience and interns who are seeking to get their licence.

“I want to help our kababayans – the architects and those in the construction field,” he said.  He added that he doesn’t want kababayans to go through the same struggles he went through as it took him years to get his licence mainly due to the work experience requirement.

And while most companies struggled during COVID-19, he said his firm was on a hiring spree and expanded with projects almost Canada-wide as real estate developers do not stop developing even during crisis.

“I want to serve as inspiration to architects who come here [to Canada] – that they can also become architects,” he added.

He said he even gets applications from kababayans who are in the Philippines but plan to move to Canada. He said he welcomes Filipino job seekers because they are smart and need not be trained for work. He added that he expected some kababayans to use his company as a springboard to further their work experience and careers in Canada.

“I try my best to help them out, hoping that will be my legacy: that I was able to give them an opportunity [in their first job in Canada],” he said.

He added that some of the applications he has been getting are mostly from international students and that he has hired some of them.

His advice to newcomers and international students: focus on your goal and never to lose heart.

A day after the job fair, some job seekers and newcomers also participated in the Filipino-Canadian Professionals Convention organized by 11 Filipino professional groups, the UPAAT and the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto. At the convention, representatives of professional groups, Filipino professionals, and service provides offered updates and tips on how newcomers and international students can get their credentials from the Philippines recognized in Canada.