The FIN program seeks to match new immigrants with internship and permanent positions at Canadian organizations (Federal Government of Canada)

The FIN (Federal Internship for Newcomers) program is a Citizenship and Immigration Canada-led initiative that seeks to place new Canadian immigrants in internship positions in Canadian organizations. On Friday, CIC announced that private companies would be joining the program as employers for the first time.

CIBC, one of Canada’s largest banks, and the CGI Group Inc, a technology and business services company, will become the first private-sector partners in the immigrant internship program, and will receive information on newcomers who have applied to and been found qualified for employment by the FIN program.

CIC has been looking at ways of improving immigrants’ economic state in recent years, as data has emerged showing that newly arrived Canadian immigrants have higher average unemployment rates and lower average incomes than natural-born Canadians and longer-term immigrants.

The FIN program is part of CIC’s Foreign Credential Recognition Office (FCRO) initiative, that seeks to better integrate immigrants in the Canadian job market.