NIAGARA COLLEGE CANADA
CAREER FOCUS PROGRAM
A mentorship program that subsidizes employers
who hire post-secondary graduates
to full-time permanent jobs
What’s Career Focus?
A mentorship program that subsidizes employers who hire ANY
post-secondary graduates into full-time permanent jobs.
IF APPROVED, the Career Focus Program
will reimburse an employer 50% of
the salary paid to a post-secondary
graduate hired and mentored
by the employer. The maximum
allowable reimbursement is $20,000
for a period of 3 to 5 months.
An employer is investing in a
graduate and mentoring
them in order to ultimately
facilitate the graduate’s
integration into the
Canadian labour market.
The employer subsidy is
temporary….
…the job is not.
NOTE: EMPLOYERS WILL NOT BE REIMBURSED IF THEY HIRE A GRADUATE WHO
STARTS WORKING BEFORE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA APPROVAL.
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How
does
it work?
THE CAREER
FOCUS PROGRAM
OPERATIONS PROCESS

Application Intake

Employer Enrolment

Financial Enrolment

•

Payroll Processing
Mentorship Support
Once an employer is approved by
Niagara College Career Focus, the
employer and the graduate
complete a Collaborative Learning
Plan. The Plan identifies the
development and learning goals
and tactics that the employer
mentor is going to provide in
support of the employee mentee.
Mentors and mentees must meet
on a weekly basis to “stay on track”.
These meetings are noted in a
meeting record. Mentees also are
required to blog post their
experience 3 times.
The Niagara College Career Focus’ role throughout the contract is to support the
mentorship relationship.
Additionally, and in order for employers to be reimbursed for fulfilling all the terms of
their contract with Niagara College Career Focus, they must submit, by the 15th of each
month, proof of payroll.
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Are you hiring a full-time permanent
employee by December 1, 2016?
If you answer “yes”, then you could be considered for The Program.
Employers MUST:
1) be hiring a full-time permanent position by December 1, 2016 
2) hire a graduate (15-30 years of age) from any post-secondary
institution; not in receipt or EI benefits; a Canadian citizen, permanent
resident or granted refugee status; and, legally entitled to work in
Canada 
3) mentor the graduate employee 
4) be conducting business in Ontario 
5) and must sign a contract with Niagara College prescribing
ALL of the terms of the Program in order to receive reimbursement 
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How do I apply?
1) Go to
https://mycareer.niagaracollege.ca/employer/careerfocus.htm.
2) Print out this PowerPoint (because the forms and instructions
are in it); the Application; and, the Participant Information Form
(PIF). Save electronically too on your computer.
3) Complete the Application AND PIF forms IF you have a graduate
that you know of and would like to hire.
4) Complete the Application ONLY IF you are going to hire but
don’t have a candidate at the moment.
5) Follow the instructions in this PowerPoint (SLIDES 6-10) in
order to ensure 100% accuracy and completeness of your forms
and other required documents. Incomplete applications will
NOT be accepted or processed.
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INSTRUCTIONS
Double-click on these fillable
pdf’s of the Application and PIF,
save to your computer and
complete.
Instructions for completion of
the Application follow on slides
7-9.
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Instructions for completion of
the PIF are on page 3 of the PIF
and not part of this PowerPoint.
You complete and submit the
PIF ONLY if you have a graduate
candidate selected AND they
have not started employment
with you yet.
6
INSTRUCTIONS-APPLICATION
IN ORDER TO MAKE THE COMPLETING OF YOUR APPLICATION EASIER, READ IT FIRST BEFORE
COMPLETING IT. THIS WAY YOU WILL KNOW WHAT INFORMATION YOU NEED AHEAD OF TIME.
Section 1 – General Business Information
This is straightforward with the basic information about your
business. Please note the following:
-The primary contact must be a signing authority of your company.
-Click on “NAICS Identification Tools” at the following site in order to
retrieve your business NAICS code (if you don’t know it).
www.naics.com/search
Note: If after completing the application you have any special circumstances/issues that you
wish to discuss with Career Focus, please email us at [email protected] and we
will arrange time to discuss them with you.
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INSTRUCTIONS-APPLICATION
Section 2 – Position Information
This information is about the FULL-TIME PERMANENT position that
you are seeking to fill through the hiring and mentorship of a postsecondary graduate. Please note the following:
-The Estimated Start Date must be by December 1, 2016.
-Click on the following site in order to retrieve your NOC code
www.cic.gc.ca/English/immigrate/skilled/noc.asp#find
In the “filter items” box, type in the position title. Your NOC code
and corresponding skill level will appear. Select the appropriate one.
-Pay levels vary but please ensure that you are paying a market rate
for the position (not to be less than $15/hour).
-Hours to be worked must be NO LESS THAN 35 HOURS per week.
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INSTRUCTIONS-APPLICATION
Section 2 – Position Information continued
-New seasonal positions (annually seasonal) will be considered on a
case by case basis. Please email Career Focus at
[email protected] and we will schedule a time to
discuss this with you.
Sections 3-5 – Self-Explanatory
For items with circles, please type in initials since this is a fillable PDF.
Section 6 – Other Documents
Your application must include a job description for the position and
proof of insurance. This can be WSIB, a third-party insurance provider
or WSIB exempt. Proof may include a copy of your insurance
summary or insurance certificate.
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Reminder: Instructions for completion of the PIF are on page 3 of the PIF and not part of this powerpoint.
9
YOUR TOTAL APPLICATION
• Although your application form may be complete, your total application to
Career Focus is not complete until you are in the position of making an offer
to a post-secondary graduate.
• At this point, you will be required to have the graduate complete the
Participant Information Form (PIF) and acquire proof from them of their
graduation (diploma or registrar letter). You then email these two items
to [email protected] and we will forward everything to the
Federal Government for approval.
• If your total application is approved, we will contact you electronically to
confirm the details and the graduate employee’s start date. We cannot
retroactively reimburse you if the employee starts before Career Focus approval.
• Please know that this is a very quick process and typically does not take more
than one week, after your total application is submitted.
• You cannot be considered for the Career Focus Program unless you are hiring
a graduate. We, therefore, recommend that if you have not begun recruiting
to fill this permanent, full-time position that you do so immediately.
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SUBMISSION: WHAT DO I ACTUALLY
SUBMIT TO CAREER FOCUS?
Email the following documents to [email protected]:
1)
2)
3)
4)
In the subject line of your email,
Application 
please type Application
Job description 
Submission along with your
company name.
Proof of insurance 
PIF (ONLY if you have a graduate candidate selected
AND they have not started employment with you yet)  ?
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WHAT’S NEXT?
1) We will review your submission and verify its completeness.
If incomplete, we will send it back to you.
2) If your submission is complete, a Career Focus staff person will
contact you by telephone to discuss your submission.
3) After this discussion two things can happen:
1)
2)
If you have a graduate candidate that you would like to hire, we will forward
the application to the Government of Canada for their consideration.
If you do not have a graduate candidate in mind then we would be happy to
post the position on Niagara College’s MyCareer site while you pursue other
recruitment options.
4) If approved, we will contact you advising you of this and then
schedule an enrolment meeting.
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