Archived News 2008 News Releases Best Employers for New Canadians
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Wednesday March 5, 2008 -- Jason Thompson
Tanya Shterenberg and Naveed Haider are two examples of why Wardrop has been named one of Canada’s Top 20 Employers for New Canadians.
Since immigrating to Canada from Israel and Pakistan respectively, Tanya and Naveed credit Wardrop with helping make the transition to life in Canada, not only for themselves but for their families as well.
In an age when Canada’s talent pool is suffering from critical shortages, brought on by falling birth rates and retiring baby boomers, the Best Employers for New Canadians award recognizes organizations with a proven history of international recruitment and who have worked to reduce employment barriers and aid newcomers with education as well as language and cultural integration.
The award is sponsored by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council in partnership with Mediacorp Canada.
Tanya, who emigrated from Israel in 2006 with her husband and children, works as a technical specialist at Wardrop’s Winnipeg office. She’s happy to be part of Wardrop, saying the friendly environment made things easier as a newcomer.
"I now feel I am doing an important and interesting job and going forward in my career,” Tanya says. “That is most important to me; money is not my goal, it is how I feel about my job and co-workers."
Naveed, who left Pakistan in 2003 in search of better career opportunities and a better life for his family, says he felt welcomed at Wardrop from the beginning.
An engineer in training, Naveed started with Wardrop in June 2007. He still remembers Rob Winfield, Wardrop’s senior human resources advisor, picking up his family at the airport and helping move about 14 suitcases.
As it happened, Naveed’s first day of work happened to be the day of Wardrop’s annual golf tournament. His foursome on the links consisted of senior project manager Dean Stewart, manager of transportation Joe Funk and CEO Shayne Smith.
Naveed remembers telling Shayne about the difficulty he was having finding an apartment.
"(The) next thing I knew, I had an apartment for me and my family," Naveed says. "I have found Wardrop’s caring for the employee affects both the personal and professional aspects of my life."
Tanya and Naveed, however, are only a snapshot of Wardrop’s diversity. The company’s Canadian-based employees hail from 57 countries and speak more than 30 different languages. In the past two years, Wardrop has hired 105 people who are deemed new Canadians.
Examples of what Wardrop has done to assist new Canadians include:
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