Yilin Zhang had 15 years of experience designing and exporting jewelry from her business in Tianjin, a city near Beijing on China's east coast.
In January, Zhang and her husband came to Vancouver through British Columbia's provincial nominee program, which accelerates permanent residency for a limited number of experienced business people and skilled workers. But even with a wealth of business experience, Zhang found navigating Canada's business regulations, taxes and hiring practices a challenge.
Helen Han, who immigrated to Canada three years ago, had never operated a business, but she dreamed of opening a restaurant that offered Korean fusion cuisine. Both women took advantage of the year-old Business Immigration Integration Support (BIIS) program offered by SUCCESS.
Zhang recently opened her Pearls Collections jewelry store in Vancouver's trendy West Fourth Avenue shopping area. Han's Morak restaurant is now open for business in Burnaby.
"It's a pilot project," Queenie Choo, CEO of SUCCESS, told Business in Vancouver. "The intent is to assist business entrepreneurs and potential business immigrants to come to Canada and be able to set up their business and really contribute to part of the economic growth of Canada."
This year, SUCCESS celebrates its 40th anniversary. The immigrant services organization started out as a small storefront office at Main and Cordova, staffed entirely by volunteers who held day jobs as social workers and teachers.
Today, it employs 400 people who work out of over 20 offices all over B.C. Through its offices in Taiwan and South Korea, SUCCESS helps potential immigrants prepare for life in North America before they come to B.C, and its office at the Vancouver International Airport helps new arrivals navigate paperwork.
The organization is more well-known for its social service programs: it offers everything from seniors' care and housing to English language lessons, job hunting help and special programs for parents and teens.
BIIS, which is funded by the provincial government, is one of its newest programs. So far, 750 new immigrants – mainly Chinese, Korean or Punjabi speakers – have signed up for the program. Participants are assigned a business counsellor who works with them. They're also paired with a mentor and attend workshops on a variety of business topics.
Choo said market research and business mentorship are key components of the program.
"They can buddy up with another similar business owner. We had a participant … [whose] business was in the sports products in Korea, so we were trying to make sure that he was able to link up with a similar industry here and look at who are the potential clients."
The organization is also promoting life in small-town B.C. to new arrivals.
