On May 15 2014, at the Canadian Immigration Conference in Toronto, Canada, TRIEC Executive Director Margaret Eaton made the case for leveraging immigration as a source of innovation. This is her presentation.
1. TORONTO REGION IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL (TRIEC)
Leveraging Immigration as a
Source of Innovation
Canadian Immigration Conference 2014
2. TORONTO REGION IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL (TRIEC)
“If you only have people
who think and act in the
same way, you will be very
consistent, but not very
innovative or flexible.”
Gord Nixon, CEO, RBC
and Chair, TRIEC
3. TORONTO REGION IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL (TRIEC)
What is TRIEC?
Leadership council of labour market actors
4. TORONTO REGION IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL (TRIEC)
TRIEC’s Vision & Mission
Vision
A Greater Toronto Region that prospers by fully
engaging the contributions of skilled
immigrants.
Mission
Create and champion solutions to better
integrate skilled immigrants in the Greater
Toronto Region labour market.
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Case 1:
Xerox Research Centre of Canada
Mississauga, Ontario
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“Our diverse workforce really helps
to keep the company innovative.
The diverse work environment gives
us the opportunity to learn about
different business practices from
around the world and use this
diverse experience to develop
innovative solutions for our clients.”
Dunstan Peter
President and CEO
Trinity Tech Inc.
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Watch the Trinity Tech video at http://youtu.be/V4ymTGLFt3w
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Case 3: SMTC
A global electronics manufacturing
services provider headquartered in
Markham.
10. TORONTO REGION IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL (TRIEC)
Watch the SMTC video at http://youtu.be/wGzWrDwsqLc
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How Can We Best Use
This Great Information?
1. Making the case to hire and
promote immigrants:
• Awards
• Champions
• Communications and media
12. TORONTO REGION IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL (TRIEC)
How Can We Best Use
This Information?
2. Supporting employers to maximize their
diverse talent:
• Best Practices:
• Pitney Bowes’ Innovation Teams
• Innovation challenge
• Employer Engagement Teams
• Online Materials and supports
14. TORONTO REGION IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT COUNCIL (TRIEC)
Do yourself a favour.
Hire a skilled immigrant.
Margaret Eaton
Executive Director
Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC)
meaton@triec.ca
Editor's Notes
Thank you to the Conference Board of Canada for this research
We’ve known that diverse teams are innovative teams, but now we have the hard data to prove it.
Today, I’ll tell you some stories of innovation
And I’ll comment on how we in the immigration sector can use this important research to inspire employers to act on it.
AT TRIEC we love to recognize employers who have championed the inclusion of immigrants in their workplace. One of the ways we do that is through our Immigrant Success Awards.
Shine the spotlight on best practices
Story-telling to inspire and encourage more employers
Going to tell you about three winners who really bring the Conference Board research to life…
XEROX RESEARCH CENTRE
Nan Zing Hu
Here is an ad that we had prepared focusing on
137 employees from over 35 countries
28 per cent of employees graduated from university in other countries – almost half have doctorate degrees
Centre awarded its 1000th Patent in 2006
Top performers include three skilled immigrants – each has surpassed the 100 patent mark.
Awarded the Immigrant Success Award in 2007
Diversity drives innovation: More diversity = more and better ideas
Workforce diversity is a core value and “sustained pursuit”
at Xerox Canada.9 According to the company, “[diversity] is
Xerox. Diversity is essential to our business. Our environment.
Our teams. Our products. Our history.”10
Consequently, Xerox Canada has attracted, hired, and retained
a large percentage of immigrant employees. At the Xerox
Research Centre of Canada alone, approximately 50 per cent of
the staff are immigrants, hailing from 35 different countries.11
More specifically, 28 per cent of the staff are skilled immigrants
who earned their B.Sc., M.Sc., or PhD degrees in their native
countries.12 This high level of diversity has garnered considerable
recognition. In 2007, the Xerox Research Centre of Canada
won the Canadian Immigrant Success Award in the mid-sized
employer category from TRIEC (Toronto Region Immigrant
Employment Council).13 More recently, in 2009, Xerox Canada
was named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers by
Mediacorp Canada.14
The Impact of Immigrants at Xerox Canada
Xerox Canada covers the cost of immigration lawyers and
language training for many of its immigrant employees, and
the company reports that the return on investment has been
significant. According to Hadi Mahabadi, Vice-President and
Manager of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada, workforce
diversity has advanced the centre’s innovation rate. In recent
years, this rate reached 120–130 patentable ideas annually—
or over one patent per scientist per year.15 The resulting
products have included erasable paper, which made TIME
magazine’s “Best Inventions of the Year” list in 2007.16
Furthermore, immigrant employees have provided Xerox
Canada with greater insight into the needs, wants, and circumstances
of peoples around the world, enabling the company
to better compete in the global market. To illustrate, Mahabadi
points out that “the power goes out regularly in certain parts
of the world, a fact that a company might not [realize] unless
a foreign worker from there was able to share that fact . . . and
then [Xerox can] adjust design specifications accordingly.”17
For companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises
with limited resources, such global insights can “result in a
cost-effective, worldly design and marketing process.”18
12 Baranyi,
Our next case: Trinity Tech
SMTC has transformed their Markham operations into a centre of innovation:
Brings best practices from around the world, centralises them here and then disperses throughout their global network
Allows them to better serve their customers globally through innovative solutions