TNO – The Neighbourhood Organization is a community-based organization whose mission is to strengthen the quality of individual and community life by inspiring and empowering the neighbourhoods we serve. Our vision is to have vibrant neighbourhoods in which all residents are engaged and thriving. TNO is a multi-service agency, providing a wide range of services that support individuals, families, youth, women, and seniors in communities across the GTA. Our client-focused programmes are designed to support diverse demographics such as low-income, marginalized, immigrant and refugee communities. We offer services at 160+ Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board schools and Toronto Public Libraries. Our services include Child & Family Programs, Community Development Services, Employment Services, Health Access Thorncliffe Park, Housing Services, Language and Skills Development Programs, Newcomer Services, Women Programs, Seniors Services, Trades Connect Program, Youth Services, Food Collaborative and many more. TNO is focused on reducing poverty, fostering employment, and ensuring better health outcomes.

Sadia Zafar &
Megumi Noteboom

Our organization is growing rapidly with over 250 employees currently working to support clients across the entire GTA region and some programs are extended throughout the province. TNO has been serving clients in a culturally sensitive manner. It is a gentle transformation process for newcomers to get necessary services and training in their familiar culture and language to slowly integrate into the larger Canadian society.

TRIEC Mentoring Partnership is one of the great ways to tackle the unique but pressing issues of challenges that skilled newcomers are facing when they seek to launch their career in Canada. TNO has been a service delivery partner for TRIEC since 2014 and the TRIEC Mentoring Partnership Program has been the essential part of employment services we provide to skilled newcomers.

One of the largest demographics of clients that TNO serves are immigrants from war affected areas such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, and others. It is saddening to see these once established and highly educated professionals struggling to engage in the Canadian labour market. The TRIEC Mentoring Partnership Program provides personalized guidance in a client’s specific professional field and adds human touch to their job-searching journey. Having someone who sits with them and strategizes their career plan in their mid career is extremely hard to get. While many mentees are highly educated and experienced, they also need to adjust and realign their career plans to achieve meaningful employment in Canada. Managing expectation and pride is another arduous challenge, which newcomers can spend years even without realizing the necessity of such a mind-shift.

Mentees, who are enjoying their mentorship with mentors, often comment that mentors told them how “different” things are in Canada. It is true that things are different in Canada – career development, education, labour market, networking and job searching process – compared to their country of origin. Early exposure to the relevant network and devoting mentor could change skilled mentees career development much more efficiently and effectively to those who never met one.

At TNO, a mentoring coach, employment counsellor and skills development instructors work in collaboration to assist skilled newcomers to break into the Canadian labour market with the devoted guidance of mentors. We believe the TRIEC Mentoring Partnership Program is an essential component of the organization, which supports skilled newcomers’ employment.

Over the past several years, many mentees have shared numerous success stories. This includes successfully finding employment in a competitive field such as finance, marketing, and IT. Through their interactions with the mentors, they were able to curate an individualized career pathway and plan for success. Their gratitude towards the mentoring program has resulted in many mentees now joining on as mentors to others looking to apply their skills in the Canadian job market.

Thank you TRIEC Mentoring Partnership Program for providing this opportunity to better serve our community!

If your organization would like to become a community partner with TRIEC Mentoring Partnership like TNO, visit our Community Partner page to find out more, or email us to set up a time to talk – mentoring@triec.ca.

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