Canada's The Indus Entrepreneurs turning Indian immigrants into millionaires

TORONTO: The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) in Canada is making its mark by turning struggling Indian immigrants into successful entrepreneurs. 

Under its mentorship programme, TiE Toronto has turned million-dollar dreams of many budding entrepreneurs into reality. "Many of the entrepreneurs we have mentored for the past 10 have created multi-million-dollar companies in a matter of years,'' TiE Toronto president Suresh Madan told media . 

Giving the latest example of successful entrepreneurs mentored by Indian techies, Madan said: "Just last November, Indo-Canadian Haroon Mirza sold his start-up Cognovision to Intel for $25 million. An engineering graduate, Mirza had a vision, but he didn't know how to go about it. 

"So he came to TiE in 2006 and our people guided him to set up his company. By 2010, he became a multi-millionaire when Intel bought his company.'' 

Cognovision, which created a unique software to measure customer attention span on a particular product while browsing in a superstore, was also chosen 'Canada's 2009 Innovation Leader.' 

"Cognovision's software helps advertisers and product companies to know which product is getting how much attention from customers,'' Madan said. 

According to him, another entrepreneur mentored by TiE has just sold his company - Ecologic Engineering - for eight million dollars. "Considering that two of the entrepreneurs mentored by us have sold their companies for millions in the last six months shows that TiE mentoring has been very successful in Canada.'' 

"At TiE, we - a group of successful entrepreneurs - have come together to give back to the community. Rather than donating at temples or charities, we have decided to do something practical to help budding entrepreneurs,'' he said. 

Currently, 75 TiE members are mentoring 400 budding entrepreneurs - more than 75 percent of whom are Indo-Canadians. 

"At 40, when you land here as an immigrant, you either update your skills and join some job at the bottom or become an entrepreneur. That's what TiE is teaching so that new immigrants become their own masters,'' the TiE chief said. 

Vancouver Housing Prices Pass New York and London as Chinese ‘Move’ In

By TraderMark May 17, 2011, 2:31 PM Author's Website  

Pardon the pun in the title, simply could not resist.

Quite a fascinating article in Bloomberg, as it seems the recent clampdown on property in China has led many to head east (well …..to the “west”) spiking the already red hot Vancouver housing market.  One that already had the warning flags last summer. One (of a myriad) of reasons you could see the U.S. housing market getting out of control was the complete disassociation between median incomes and housing prices. To say this has happened as well in Canada – and especially Vancouver – is an understatement.  That said, they have the same very loose monetary policy, and an influx of buyers – many of them cash – from outside the country itself, so it is definitely setting up an interesting scenario.   One wonders what happens when their central bank actually begins to raise rates in earnest.

At this point, using the measure above (median household income to median price), Vancouver is now more expensive than New York or London.  And I am sure a lot less investment bankers work there, than in either of those 2 locales.

Some of the growth measures in this story seem nearly impossible – looks like some mass herding effect out of China and into Canada…

————–

• Vancouver’s Royal Pacific Realty had such a surge of business during the first two weeks of February that agents and assistants worked day and night shifts to find homes for Chinese buyers visiting during the Lunar New Year.  “It was unprecedented,” said Royal Pacific Chief Executive Officer David Choi.
• Sales of detached homes, townhouses and condominiums in metropolitan Vancouver jumped 70 percent in February from January, to 3,097 units from 1,819, and were up 25 percent from a year earlier. In March, sales climbed 32 percent from February. Sales increased by 80 percent from two years ago.
• Buyers from mainland China are leading a wave of Asian investment in Vancouver real estate as China tries to damp property speculation at home. Good schools, a marine climate and the large, established Asian community as a result of Canada’s liberal immigration policy make Vancouver attractive, said Cathy Gong, who moved from Shanghai to the Shaughnessy neighborhood on Vancouver’s Westside about three years ago.
• China, where home prices rose 28 percent in Beijing and 26 percent in Shanghai last year, has taken steps to curb property speculation within its borders.  Premier Wen Jiabao placed curbs on mortgage lending, boosted down-payment requirements and limited the number of purchases.
• In 2010, Vancouver had the third-highest housing costs among English-speaking cities worldwide. Only Hong Kong and Sydney, another magnet of Asian immigration, were more expensive.
• Vancouver’s median home price of C$602,000 ($618,000) was 9.5 times the annual median household income of C$63,100. Canada had a 4.6 national multiple, making it “seriously unaffordable,” while the U.S. at 3.3 was “moderately unaffordable,” the study showed. To be affordable, the multiple must be 3 or less.
• Vancouver was more expensive than San Francisco, London and New York by that measure.
• Unlike London or New York, “we don’t have enough jobs with high incomes to justify” the home prices, said Ladner. He noted Australia has placed restrictions on foreign home ownership.
• Holidays in China have been a popular time to look for houses in Vancouver. Sales picked up in October during China’s weeklong national holiday, said Winnie Chung, a Royal Pacific agent who represented buyers or sellers in C$285 million of home sales in 2009 and 2010 combined.

• Mainland Chinese are buying houses primarily in Vancouver’s Westside, boosting the median sales price to C$2 million in the district known for its wide boulevards, beaches, expansive parks and stucco Tudor mansions.
• “Our office has done 50 sales this year, which is pretty incredible,” said Vancouver realtor Tom Gradecak at his office in Point Grey, where he has one colleague who speaks Mandarin and Cantonese and is hiring a second. “Half of those sales are from mainland China.”
• Some buyers acquire multiple homes, one to live in and others for investment, said Chung, the broker. Her clients made their money in a variety of businesses, she said, including mining, stainless steel manufacturing and real estate. About 10 percent of them speak English, she said.
• Westside home prices rose 77 percent during the past five years through April amid the housing collapse in the U.S.
• In 2010, the average home price in greater Vancouver rose 14 percent from 2009.
• The current group of Chinese homebuyers in Vancouver is the third “wave” from Asia since 1990, following Taiwanese and Hong Kong immigration, said Manyee Lui, a veteran Vancouver realtor. “People from mainland China are the new immigrants,” Lui said.
• Chinese buyers frequently are absentee owners, wealthy businessmen who buy second or third houses for their wives and children while continuing to live in China for work.   “You see a lot of these satellite families,” said Chow. He said it’s not unusual to see college-age kids of wealthy Chinese parents driving Bentleys, Maseratis and Porsches around the Westside.
• Low interest rates inflated home prices and created a bubble, said Lawrence Wong, an immigration lawyer with many Chinese clients. “There is this psychological fear that ‘Ok, if I don’t get into the market, I might not be able to get in later on,” said Wong.

Fun random fact….

• Starting about 18 months ago, so many homeowners applied to change the last two digits of their addresses to remove or shift the number 4, which in Chinese sounds like the word for death, or add the numeral 8, which is considered lucky, that Vancouver began turning down some requests, said Bonnie Lee, addressing coordinator for the city.

New research shows skilled immigrants help companies grow globally and locally

By Canada NewsWire  | May 17, 2011

ORONTO, May 17 /CNW/ - New numbers back up the business case for hiring skilled immigrants. TRIEC engaged EKOS to survey employers about their hiring practices of newcomers. According to the results, one in five employers has hired a skilled immigrant to help them expand globally and locally, and feels that employees with international education and experience are effective in helping them meet their business goals.

Among the key research findings:

• Almost 1 in 5 have hired a skilled immigrant:
• To help diversify their company's client base globally; and of these, 93% feel the skilled immigrants hired have been effective on helping on this front
• To target local cultural communities to find new business opportunities; and of these, 83% feel the skilled immigrants hired have been effective in helping on this front
• 1 in 10 have hired a skilled immigrant because they discovered that competitors were benefiting from hiring skilled immigrants -
• of those employers, 81% feel the skilled immigrants hired have been effective

"This research confirms that hiring immigrants to expand into local and global markets can be an effective business strategy for employers," says Elizabeth McIsaac, TRIEC's executive director. "We know there is a strong business case for employing skilled immigrants and these findings prove it."

Companies that are already reaping the benefits

Phoenix Geophysics
Phoenix Geophysics Limited, a geophysical manufacturing and contracting company, sells to over 80 countries in the world. Half of the company's business is in China and another 20 per cent is in Russia. Phoenix hires "market makers," skilled immigrants who can help the company open up new opportunities in their home countries. The company boasts 51 employees from 20 countries who speak 15 languages.

George Kelk
For George Kelk, a producer of sensors for steel rolling mills, 99 per cent of sales are international. More than 80 per cent of employees are immigrants, hired in engineering, technology and sales roles. Customers can call and expect to speak to someone who knows their language. With a retention rate of 98 per cent, it's obvious that immigrant employees feel their skills are put to good use.

Thales Canada 
In Thales Canada's Toronto office, staff build "brains for trains" - technology that allows trains to run without operators. With 90 per cent of its business in the global marketplace, Thales systematically targets and cultivates internationally trained professionals to ensure its position as a leader in transportation systems worldwide. The company stands apart for its 95 per cent retention rate.

Questrade
Questrade has been ranked as Canada's fastest growing online brokerage. When half of the employees are immigrants, it's clear that the company's rapid success is tied to its skilled immigrant advantage. The majority of Questrade's work is in e-development and innovation, and the majority of the technology team is comprised of visible minorities or immigrants - or both. Staff collectively speak more than 35 languages and have grown most of their business within local immigrant communities.

Samtack
With over 90 per cent of its 100-plus workforce comprised of immigrants, this computer manufacturing and distribution company has leveraged skilled immigrant talent to respond to changing needs of mass merchant customers; to increase market share with smaller, local and diverse retailers; and to purchase parts from overseas suppliers, mainly from China.

About the research
EKOS surveyed 461 employers in the Greater Toronto Area. There was a fairly even split between large and small businesses. Close to 40 per cent of businesses polled had over 100 staff, with 30 per cent having between one and four; close to 30 per cent employed between five and 100 staff. All respondents were either employed full-time or self-employed (and employed at least another employee), and had either primary or shared responsibility for hiring.

Of the employers polled, close to 60 per cent were private; close to 30 per cent were public; and just over 10 per cent were non-government organizations. The employers represented a broad range of sectors. The biggest portion of employers, at 15 per cent, was from the professional, scientific and technical services sector. Another 12 per cent were from the finance and insurance, real estate and renting and leasing sectors.

About TRIEC
TRIEC creates and champions solutions to better integrate skilled immigrants in the Greater
Toronto Region labour market. For more information visit www.triec.ca.

New tool helps construction connect with immigrant workers

OTTAWA, May 16 /CNW/ - As the traditional construction workforce shrinks, new resources such as the Construction Employer's Roadmap from the Construction Sector Council (CSC) can help industry leaders connect with immigrant workers to meet growing labour needs.

"The industry is growing steadily, but over the next decade, construction will lose a quarter of its workforce thanks to retirements," says CSC Executive Director George Gritziotis, pointing to the organization's latest Construction Looking Forward forecast reports.

"Though a growing labour pool of skilled immigrant workers are available to help replenish the workforce, recruiting and retaining these workers is sometimes a challenge for employers," he says.

Among other things, the new guide book is geared to helping employers and others involved in human resources management navigate government programs, assess foreign credentials, and help immigrant workers put their best foot forward when seeking opportunities to work in construction.

A Construction Employer's Roadmap provides employers with information on the role of employment agencies and immigration consultants, and provides an overview of Canada's immigration programs and the different paths open to permanent residents, temporary residents and workers outside of Canada. The roadmap offers advice on how to assess experience obtained in other countries, make job offers, develop orientation programs and retain workers.

Funded by the Foreign Credential Referral Office of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the booklet is available in hard copy and electronically with hyperlinks to other useful resources and websites.

"The Government of Canada is proud to support the work of the Construction Sector Council, as we know that within the next few years, most of Canada's labour force growth will come from immigration," saidJason Kenney, Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Multiculturalism. "Attracting and retaining the best international talent to address existing and future labour market challenges is critical to our economic success."

"Immigrant workers can bring many benefits to the industry," says Gritziotis, "such as the ability to speak different languages, a knowledge of new cultures, and a network of connections − all of which can help employers to compete in new markets.

"With the proper tools to help them integrate, they will sustain one of Canada's leading industries well into the future."

The CSC is a national industry/government partnership funded by the Government of Canada's Sector Council Program. For more information on these and other CSC products and services, visit www.csc-ca.org.

Total complete applications received since June 26, 2010

On June 26, 2010, the eligibility criteria for Federal Skilled Worker applicants changed.

Between June 26, 2010, and June 30, 2011, a maximum of 20,000 complete Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing. Within the 20,000 cap, a maximum of 1,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications per eligible occupation will be considered for processing within this same time frame.

These limits do not apply to applications with an offer of arranged employment (job offer).

Applications received toward the overall cap: 11,988 of 20,000 as of May 12, 2011

Applications received per eligible occupation:

Eligible Occupation (by National Occupational Classification [NOC] code)	Number of Complete Applications Received*
0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers	1,000 (Cap reached)**
0811 Primary Production Managers (except Agriculture)	147
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management	1,000 (Cap reached)**
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners	347
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists	919
2151 Architects	800
3111 Specialist Physicians	772
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians	811
3113 Dentists	984
3131 Pharmacists	1,000 (Cap reached)**
3142 Physiotherapists	305
3152 Registered Nurses	1,000 (Cap reached)**
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists	60
3222 Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists	26
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses	357
4151 Psychologists	169
4152 Social Workers	606
6241 Chefs	152
6242 Cooks	269
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades	165
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades	358
7241 Electricians (except Industrial and Power System)	203
7242 Industrial Electricians	215
7251 Plumbers	56
7265 Welders and Related Machine Operators	70
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics	53
7371 Crane Operators	9
7372 Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction	23
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service	112