News You Can Use - Citizenship Study Guide

Discover Canada was updated on March 14, 2011. The citizenship test is based on the information in Discover Canada, but you do not need the updated version to prepare for the citizenship test. The test does not contain questions on the new material. To prepare for the citizenship test, you can study any copy of Discover Canada issued by the Government of Canada since November 12, 2009.


Study Guide - Discover Canada The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship


Free Online Canadian Citizenship Practice Test (Discover Canada)

Discover Canada: Sample study questions


2011 Canadian Citizenship Test Passing Guide

How do you value your time?

Lately, I feel that I am operating in a perpetual fire-fighting mode because I devote more time to putting out fires than preventing them. Unfortunately, I can't control what I can't control, and I try to calm down myself and get the things I can control, done. Anyway, I remembered this story I like and I thought I'll share with you here. Even if you know it, maybe you can get another meaning to its interpretation. Then, ask yourself "What is the best use of my time right now?"

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. 

What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course! Each of us has such a bank. It's name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.

It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you.

Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.

There is no going back. There is no drawing against the “tomorrow”.

You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success!

The clock is running.

Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a pre-mature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.

And remember that time waits for no one.

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.

That’s why it’s called the present!!

Author unknown

Source: http://starteasy.com/ggalore/time/

"Transformation happens right now, not yesterday and not tomorrow - in this very present moment, which is all you really have." - Jillian Michaels

News You Can Use - Self-Study Guide for Skilled Immigrants

Finding Talent is a training video developed by TRIEC.  It uses a storytelling approach to present the business case for hiring skilled immigrants and to demonstrate techniques which will allow companies to leverage the talents of skilled immigrants.

The Finding Talent video and self-study guide will provide you with valuable information on 

finding a job.

You will benefit from this video most if you:
- watch the whole video from beginning to end first 
- replay segments that are most interesting to you 
- talk about the video with a friend or family member
- do at least some of the optional activities included in this guide
- consult the resources to further your learning 
- seek employment-support services as you need them 
- are open to seeing things from a different point of view



Use this self-study guide to learn about the topics covered in the video. It provides an 
overview of each video scene, identifies key learning objectives, and offers optional activities for 
you to reinforce your learning.

• self-study guide for skilled immigrants who are employed or looking for work

THEY'RE DIFFERENT - AND THE SAME

Being myself a parent of two "Millennial generation" sons, I can say that it is not easy to "manage" them. But, is FUN! Now, for those of you who are really managing these young employees, I think you will find the below article helpful on how to get the most out of working and training with them.

"Twenty-somethings are better educated, more diverse in their background, less religious, more accepting
of differences, more in need of nurturing yet more optimistic and more confident than those who are
older. They're more trusting of their elders than were the baby boomers, whose mantra was not to trust
anyone over 30.

But despite these differences they're also conventional: They believe that successful marriages, good parenting
and helping others are far more important than career and financial success. Researchers have
concluded they're more comfortable with their parents' values than any previous generation was and they
have fewer spats with their parents than those parents had with theirs. More than six in ten say families
have a responsibility to take in an elderly parent.

Computers aren't “technology” to these young people. They're a way of life. Work isn't work. It's an
extension of life. Are you listening, all you managers from previous generations and especially those in
global businesses? Half the world's population is under 30. Get in step with them or get left behind." - read more here.

Putting safety first with language training

The ABCs of safety

Clear and effective communication is critical for employees in safety-sensitive jobs, says Lesley MacDonald, Manager of Diversity and Top Employer Strategy at BC Hydro. With more and more skilled talent coming from outside Canada, BC Hydro offers occupation-specific language training for employees who have identified their language skills as a barrier to communicating effectively with team members.

To make language training as successful as possible, MacDonald has the following tips:

• Provide employees with opportunities to practise what they have learned in language classes to maintain and build their new skills.
• Integrate language and cross-cultural communication training into the organization’s larger strategic context.

Learn more about BC Hydro’s language and cross-cultural communication training programs in this Success Story.

www.hireimmigrants.ca 

Top 10 Ways to Get Canadian Experience

Came across this article through a LinkedIn group post, and even if it was posted in 2007, I find it full of good advice. Check it here. As well, Start Here, and don't forget... "If you keep trying, good things will come. You can do it and you will do it." 

Get the most out of your profile with some more useful LI features!

1. Share links on and watch them show up on LinkedIn Today

2. Search status updates with LinkedIn Signal

3. Keep your company's page up to date

4. Optimize your URL

5. Join groups related to your industry

6. Take advantage of Google search results

7. Make sure your profile is complete and up to date

8. Looking for a promotion? Search the next position you want and look at the skills you'll need

9. Looking to hire?

10. Need a resumé in a hurry?

 - Check this: How To Save An Hour By Building Your Resume With LinkedIn

11. How else can you manage your image?

New research shows skilled immigrants help companies grow globally and locally | CanadianBusiness.com

New research shows skilled immigrants help companies grow globally and locally | CanadianBusiness.com

7 Success Secrets for Canadian Immigrants

Nick Noorani, founding publisher of Canadian Immigrant magazine and bestselling author of Arrival Survival Canada, will be hosting a FREE SEMINAR.

Nick's message is one of positive thinking, embracing Canada as your new home, and creating opportunities through risk-taking and community participation.

His frank and humorous presentations draw on his immigrant journey and on success tories from the many newcomers he has met along the way.

Nick’s speeches have had a profound effect on his audience. Now it's your turn! Join Nick and learn the secrets to successful immigration in Canada.

Admission is free by pre-registration only. Seating is limited, so register today!

Fabricating our Future

Marie Laird, Chair, SME Toronto

There's a connection between the decline in manufacturing and the decline in the middle class. If we don't reverse the trend, we can look forward to careers in the service sector.

  

"Industry classification systems used by the government commonly divide industry into three sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, and services. The primary sector of industry is agriculture, mining and raw material extraction. The secondary sector of industry is manufacturing. The tertiary sector of industry is service production." (Wikipedia)

It's no secret that our country has progressed through the various stages of industry described above similar to most developed nations.  We started as farmers, fishermen, lumberjacks and miners - and progressed to the production of manufactured goods during the Industrial Revolution.

We have now moved into the tertiary sectors as evidenced by the fact that the service sector has grown to account for 71.3% GDP and 76% of the labour force (2009 stats). Higher commodity prices have helped revitalize certain primary industries, but manufacturing has continued to decline from a high of 29% of GDP in 1944 to only 13% of GDP and 13% of the labour force in 2010.

What do these statistics mean? Has our standard of living continually increased - in line with our progression through each of these stages?

When did Canada have the greatest sense of prosperity? When did people in Canada and people coming to Canada, on average, have the most positive outlook for themselves and their children? 

The answer is, "Not now." 

I'm not suggesting that life in Canada hasn't improved in many ways since we were primarily hewers of wood and drawers of water, or even when we were heavily focused on manufacturing.

However a high standard of living is more than just owning material goods once considered luxuries. The opportunity for all members of society to make a contribution, earn a good wage, and live a healthy life in a clean and safe environment plays a much larger role than often credited. A critical indicator of a high standard of living is a shared sense of hope for a better future.

For some people the good times continue. Unfortunately for increasing numbers, such as those formerly employed in manufacturing, the future is quite bleak and the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen as opportunities for the middle class disappear.

Our collective hope for a better future is in decline and we no longer have confidence that life, in general, will continue to improve.

I looked at some average weekly wages by industry for 2010. Mining and oil and gas extraction had the highest average -$1700 per week (no surprise with commodity prices soaring). Forestry averaged $950 and manufacturing $960.

In the service sector, public administration (government jobs) averaged $1094 per week and finance and insurance industries came in at $1049.   However, there were other service sector positions which were much lower. Those in accommodation and food services, for example, earned an average of $354 per week and those in retail earned an average of $500 per week.

I couldn't find the answer, but I'd like to know the average wage in the service sector. I would bet that as we move more and more toward a service sector economy that our average wage as a nation will decrease...and that we will be more harshly divided between the upper class and the lower class with little in between.

Historically manufacturing played a strong role in the development and maintenance of the middle class. As manufacturing has declined, so too has the middle class.  Jobs in oil and gas, finance, insurance have not filled the gap. That's not to say those industries and jobs don't have a place...it's just a question of balance.

The service sector cannot revive the middle class.

So why are we still letting manufacturing decline? 

All the best!

Marie Laird
Chair
Society of Manufacturing Engineers Toronto
e: marie.laird@smetoronto.ca
w: http://www.smetoronto.ca
Advancing Manufacturing in Ontario