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Deloitte, one of Canada's leading professional services firms, provides audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services to a wide range of Canadian and international clients. Deloitte is the Canadian member firm of the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Verein, which is an association of firms operating in almost 150 countries. There are 6,600 employees across the country, with 2,500 employees in the GTA.

Of those 2,500 employees in the GTA, many are immigrants. Deloitte has the advantage of having international locations and has integrated many employees with global experience. Deloitte values their experience, especially in light of extreme shortages the firm faced two years ago. Since then Deloitte has increased their total headcount in the GTA by 20% - and many of those new employees were skilled immigrants. The boost in staff allowed the firm to reduce the stress on its existing employees, while increasing its capabilities at the same time.

Deloitte knows it wants to make a long term investment in skilled immigrants. Canadian experience is not a prerequisite at Deloitte. The firm searches for skills, competencies and relevant experience - even if it's international. One of Deloitte's fastest growing areas of business is serving medium-sized private companies. To serve such companies, not all Deloitte staff need to be Chartered Accountants (CA). They can perform certain accounting functions, gain Canadian experience, while working towards their Canadian designation.

Deloitte provides cultural training for new employees to get them up to speed on Canadian practices, and language training to help new hires with their communication and presentation skills. The firm has designed a new program to help those coming from abroad adjust to Canada. The Cultural Navigator Program is a self-assessment that will clarify differences between cultures, both social and in the workplace. Amongst other things, the employee will receive information on the nuances on hierarchy and reporting relationships, working in a team and, giving and receiving feedback in a multicultural environment. The program has been well-received and Deloitte is looking to expand its availability to more staff.

Another factor - a powerful factor - that has led to the successful integration of skilled immigrants into the firm has been the vision and drive from the Toronto Managing Partner, Yezdi Pavri, who is responsible for the GTA practice's active involvement in The Mentoring Partnership. The program matches professionals with a newcomer from a similar field, to inform them of the Canadian practices in their industry, and provide coaching on their job search skills and networking. Deloitte's GTA office currently has 67 employees who are mentors and the firm is proud to be a corporate partner of The Mentoring Partnership.

Pavri has promoted mentoring himself, using different forums as an opportunity to encourage staff to become mentors. He attributes the success of mentoring newcomers to Canada to his living Deloitte's shared value: "strength from cultural diversity."

When asked why the firm mentors and hires so many skilled immigrants, Pavri explains that it's really a business imperative: "As we look at the local demographics, it's increasingly difficult to find the talent we need to serve our clients. The biggest growing talent pool is skilled immigrants and we have been able to capitalize on their potential, and will continue to do so."