As a new immigrant to Canada, you might feel the need to upgrade your skills to secure employment or advance in your career here. Financial stability or access to funds is essential to be able to pursue a Canadian credential, professional development, or acquire the licenses required for your regulated profession, whatever the case might be. Windmill Microlending loans of up to $15,000 can help you in this regard.
Windmill Microlending is a national charitable organization that started in 2005 and provides affordable loans for education and training purposes to immigrants and refugees in Canada. Whether you’re an individual with Permanent Resident status with the Convention Refugee status or have become a Canadian citizen but immigrated to the country as an internationally trained professional earlier, you’re likely to be eligible to access the financial and career supports they offer.
Watch this interview, wherein Paula Calderon, National Director – Client Success at Windmill Microlending gives you an overview of how you can connect with them, the loans you can access, as well as career coaching, mentorship, and additional supports you can benefit from.
Video transcript:
Shruti Dargan:
Hello, we are New Canadians, and today we’re joined by Paula Calderon, National Director, Client Success at Windmill Microlending. We’d be talking about the Windmill with her. Welcome, Paula.
Paula Calderon:
Hi. Thank you.
Shruti Dargan:
So let’s start by talking about Windmill, and if you could introduce it to our viewers.
Paula Calderon:
Of course. Windmill Microlending is a national charitable organization. It started in 2005, and we provide affordable loans for education and training purposes to immigrants and refugees in Canada.
Shruti Dargan:
So, you said you help immigrants and refugees in Canada, who all would be eligible?
Paula Calderon:
So anyone who is in the country with either a permanent resident status, with a convention refugee status, or who has become a Canadian citizen but is actually internationally trained and has immigrated at some point in their lives.
Shruti Dargan:
Could you maybe elaborate on some of the services, or how you actually help anyone participating?
Paula Calderon:
Yes, of course. So we support people through their re-accreditation or their training in Canada. So the lack of local credentials or the lack of recognition of your credentials if you are internationally trained or if you’re in a regulated profession is a big barrier to employment. And of course, sometimes it’s just something you can’t do unless you have acquired your licenses in Canada. And one of the biggest obstacles to re-accreditation or to professional development for immigrants is the lack of access to affordable credit products. Right? And so finances are a big barrier that we try to break by providing microloans of up to $15,000 to support people through their learning plans, through their career success plans, as we call them. So it’s just the support that is available that is affordable, as I said, and that is there for people who don’t have access to regular credit products.
Shruti Dargan:
And what additional support does Windmill provide?
Paula Calderon:
Sure, so we have a model that actually supports clients through the whole journey. So they, of course, come to us for a loan to support their learning plans or training that they want to do. We have a group of coaches, client success coaches, who actually take that information, work with the client, ensure that they have the correct labour market information, and they’re making the right educational decisions as well. And also, I mean, we all know that education is a great piece in terms of getting you further in your career, but there are additional supports that come with that that most people need. Things like language skills, resume writing skills, interview skills, or networking, for example. So our coaches identify these needs, and it varies from one person to another. We know that there’s not one person who has the same needs as the other, right? Especially when you talk about professionals, everyone has a very unique experience, very unique needs as well. So our coaches are very well equipped to actually assess the client’s individual needs and provide a series of support… support systems or references to other services out there that can help them across the country.
So we’ve built a network of uh service providers and partners that we reach out to when our clients have additional needs, and we refer our clients to them so that they can get the support that they need in order to successfully integrate into the Canadian labour market. Our coaches build action plans with our clients and make sure that those action plans are complete. They do follow-ups and are there to just cheer on our clients through their journey to career success, essentially. So as I said, we do that through coaching, through assessments and through referrals to services in the community that would be useful to them.
We also have a mentorship program, which is great because we have some of our alumni coming back to support people who are just starting their journey. So when you have the lived experience, it’s so valuable to be able to share that information and provide support to others who are just starting in their journey. So our mentorship program has become very popular as well. So all of these additional supports in career, towards career success, are what we offer through the loan program. But there’s also additional value and benefit through going through the loan process. And that’s financial literacy and also the building of credit history in Canada, which we know is extremely important for future success and financial stability. So that’s also part of the value and the benefit of being affiliated with Windmill.
Shruti Dargan:
So, how can one finally get in touch with Windmill?
Paula Calderon:
Of course, I mean the easiest way would be through our website. Also, if anyone is curious about whether or not they’re eligible for a Windmill loan, we have an eligibility quiz on our website that is just very easy to complete, or we are present on social media, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as well if anyone wants to follow us.
Shruti Dargan:
Well, thanks, Paula, for sharing all of that information with us. Thanks for your time.
Paula Calderon:
Thank you, Shruti.
Think this story might be useful to someone you know? Share it with them!