World Skills Employment Centre

World Skills has been a leader in enhancing newcomers’ economic integration into the Canadian economy for over 25 years. Founded by Local Agencies Serving Immigrants, a coalition of settlement agencies in Ottawa, World Skills is a non-profit employment centre dedicated exclusively to the employment needs of newcomers and to the needs of the local labour market. We help newcomers incorporate into the workforce through employment competency building, job search training and support, cultural competency building and language training.

We connect talented newcomers to employers in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. We partner with employers to help them meet their labour market needs by understanding their business requirements, finding and pre-screening internationally trained newcomers and offering cross-cultural training.We are funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, the Government of Ontario and the United Way with additional support from partnerships the Community Foundation of Ottawa, TD Bank, and Accenture, as well as donations and fee-for-service.

Our Mission

World Skills aims to enhance the economic integration of refugees and newcomers by:

• Developing and offering programs and services that assist them in increasing their employability in the Canadian job market.
• Creating employment opportunities for them through increasing public awareness of their employability and by forming partnerships with employers in the Ottawa region.

Our Vision

An inclusive Canada that values the skills and talents of new Canadians.