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Eye to better future motivation for education
Posted: August 29, 2011The journey from Mexico City to Edmonton and all the readjustment necessary to survive in a new country was one that Victor Manuel Duran Jimenez gladly made, even though he left a good position as a project manager for one of the world’s largest food distribution companies where he managed international and domestic accounts.
The job market in Mexico is increasingly youth focused and the 44-year-old IT consultant knew his days as a desired worker were numbered. That was only one of the considerations that prompted Victor, his wife, Gabriela and their 8-year-old son, Adrian, to come to Canada.
“Mexico City has 34 million residents,” he says. “It’s overcrowded and security is an issue. I didn’t want my son growing up there.”
Victor arrived in Edmonton in April 2010. He held a bachelor in computer science and a master in finance, which he earned in Mexico. When the family was settled, Gabriela enrolled in an ESL program and Victor, whose English was already excellent, took courses to improve his command of the language.
That completed, he began looking for a job and found out that he required a Canadian project management certificate to be qualified to work in his field. He chose to take Grant MacEwan University’s four-month Project Management Program. He’s also taking extra courses for international project management certification.
Victor learned about the Immigrant Access Fund through his wife’s ESL program, applied and received the loan.
“IAF has allowed me to complete the program and to meet other professional Canadians who have introduced me to job opportunities,” he says. “The learning and the networking provide me with a huge advantage.” Victor says potential employers are responding more favourably to his job applications since he has been enrolled in the program.
