Volunteering: Why and How

One of the most significant pieces of advice people job searching get, especially if they don’t have a lot of experience in their field or are new to the area, is to volunteer. What is volunteering and why do people recommend it? Volunteering is working unpaid, usually with charities or non-profits, in a variety of…

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Green Economy Bridging Program Partnership

Bridging programs are a vital post-arrival service for newcomers in Canada who are looking for a job in their field or one commensurate with their education and experience. These programs complement the services that SOPA offers at the pre-arrival stage.

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Client Testimonial: Seerat Nischal

Seerat Nischal is a dentist from India and just recently arrived in Ontario, Canada. She was able to take advantage of one of SOPA’s two soft skills courses – Professional Communication. This is what Seerat says about the course: “It’s an immense pleasure to share my experience with the course on Soft Skills: Professional Communication. This…

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My Biggest Concern Before Canada

Hello Bob, thanks a lot for doing this interview with us. Would you please describe your job before immigrating to Canada. Hello my name is Bob Marlon Vistal. I worked as a production engineer in Philippines for over 7 years. Basically, my job was to control the quality condition of the production lines that I…

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Newcomer’s Story: Hao Wang

My name is Hao Wang. I have been an IT project manager and consultant for seven years and hold two masters degrees in Finance and Economics. Before landing in Winnipeg in March 2017, I was a client of SOPA (Settlement Online Pre-Arrival). After 6 months of arriving in Winnipeg, I successfully landed a job in…

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Arrive Prepared for Winter in Canada

No matter where you live in Canada, it’s wise to be prepared for the winter. Here are our tips for staying warm, driving safely and having fun during the winter season in Canada. With the exception of parts of British Columbia, where it is worthwhile to invest in rain gear to get through the winter…

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An Adventure Across The World

An adventure on the other side of the world – this is what Winnie Law and her family are calling their move to Canada. They moved from Auckland, New Zealand to Calgary, Alberta this summer. Winnie is a supply chain management professional. She found out about the SOPA program while looking online for a job…

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Welcome to Canada: The BCCA Integrating Newcomers Team

The British Columbia Construction Association’s Integrating Newcomers (BCCA-IN) is a program that helps newcomers to Canada enter the construction workforce in British Columbia. With a variety of services, the team works to assess skills, support integration into a Canadian community and connect with job opportunities in Canada. Speaking of the team, let us introduce the…

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My Dream Job in Canada

Murshed Nizam is one of our former SOPA (Settlement Online Pre-Arrival) clients. Before landing in Ontario in December, 2016 Murshed participated in the SOPA program. His career in Canada took off soon after his arrival and ever since has been progressing. Today, Murshed is working for a group of companies managing several hotels in Canada…

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Takeaways: Job Search Strategies

Guest post by Maria Agnes Castillo from the Philippines. Maria is SOPA Manitoba client. When my Intake Counselor, Milagros Dacwag with the SOPA Manitoba team, introduced me to SOPA’s Job Search Strategies course, I thought to myself that the job search is technically not new to me. I had created resumes before and successfully landed…

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