By Florence Hwang, New Canadian Media
Skilled immigrants are more likely than Canadian-born citizens to be their own boss, according to the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council.
Ralph Chiodo came to Canada in 1959 with the dream of opening his own autobody shop, he now has 72 franchise locations across Ontario. His advice to new immigrant entrepreneurs: “Treat people fairly. This includes not only the customers, but the suppliers, landlords and everybody else.”
Mahboob Bolandi came from Iran in 2008 and started his ceramic materials business after he took the Entrepreneurship Connections program with ACCES Employment in June 2014. Bolandi now runs his own company, Texers Inc., specializing in technical ceramics used in high technology, engineering or medical application.