The Prairie Centre For Excellence In Mentoring (PCFEM) is a Calgary-based initiative that seeks to establish a collaborative mentoring network throughout the Prairies and Northern Territories (PNT). It aims to reach out to everyone in the region who is passionate about the benefits of mentoring for internationally-trained professionals — whether first-time mentees, seasoned mentors, businesses, community-serving agencies, or academia. Everyone is welcome.
PCFEM is the realization of a life-long vision for Bruce Randall, Founder and first Executive Director of the Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council (CRIEC), together with Fariborz Birjandian, CEO of the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS), thanks to funding from the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC),
As a region, the PNT is not only replete with great diversity in geography and industries, but a diversity of ethnicities and populations as well. Peace, health, a sense of belonging, and incredible opportunity is what continue to draw generations of newcomers to Canada. With mentoring, strong relationships are forged that enrich both mentee and mentor and give people the confidence to continue with their lives in Canada.
The various provinces in the PNT are represented by these pioneering members of the PCFEM Advisory Board:
❖ Alberta – Dapo Bankole
❖ Manitoba (metropolitan) – Saima Arshad
❖ Manitoba (rural) / Communications – Kris Ontong
❖ Saskatchewan – Oyin Ajibola
❖ Nunavut – Umar Kukkadi
❖ Northwest Territories – vacant
Mentoring can have many benefits for both the mentor and the mentee. Some of the potential benefits of mentoring include:
• Providing guidance and support: A mentor can offer advice, feedback, and guidance to help the mentee navigate their career or personal development.
• Facilitating learning and skill development: Through mentoring, the mentee can learn new skills and knowledge and can receive guidance on how to apply them in the real world.
• Improving career prospects: Mentoring can help the mentee to progress in their career, and to gain the skills and experience they need to advance to the next level.
• Building a network: Mentoring relationships can lead to valuable connections and networking opportunities.
• Improving self-awareness and confidence: A mentor can help the mentee to gain greater self-awareness, and can help to build their confidence and self-esteem.
• Improving relationship dynamics: Some of the benefits of mentoring may include improving relationship dynamics, like how to handle difficult colleagues or how to establish healthy boundaries with colleagues.
All of this will ultimately depend on the mentor and mentee’s goals, the mentor’s experience and the dynamics of the relationship.
For more details about PCFEM and related organizations, please follow the links below:
• PCFEM official webpage: https://www.criec.ca/prairie-centre-for-excellence-in-mentoring/
• Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council: https://www.criec.ca/
• Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS): https://www.ccisab.ca/