Conference for International Engineers | The Hon. Jean Augustine SfCarchive
Channel: SkillsforchangeArchive SfC
Date: 03/04/2012

The Conference for International Engineers and Employers was held March 30, 2012 at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. The one-day conference was hosted by bridging program partners across Ontario, and funded by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. It was open to international engineers and employers throughout Ontario who are invested in Canada's engineering future and leveraging the potential of global talent.

Hon. Jean Augustine was appointed as the first Fairness Commissioner for Ontario in March 2007. The Office of the Fairness Commissioner oversees licensing in 40 regulatory bodies for Ontario professions, including engineers. The commissioner's mandate is to ensure that registration practices are transparent, objective, impartial and fair. 

The Office of the Fairness Commissioner is an independent agency of the government of Ontario, with the goal of ensuring that people are treated fairly when they apply to become licensed professionals in one of Ontario's regulated professions -- no matter where they were trained. This goal is widely supported in Ontario, and reflects the principles and core values of the people of this province.

Ms Augustine cares passionately about education and the challenges faced by newcomers to the province. Recently recognized by canadianimmigrant.ca as one of the "Top 25 Canadian Immigrants," Ms. Augustine brings an enlightened message to international engineers.

Ms. Augustine was born in Grenada and came to Canada in 1960 -- and was the first African-Canadian woman to be elected to the House of Commons. She was elected in the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore in 1993 and sat in Parliament until 2006. During this time, she served as minister of state for multiculturalism and the status of women, sat on several standing committees, and was a deputy Speaker. She also played a major role as parliamentary secretary to the prime minister.

In 2007, she was chair of the Ontario Bicentenary Commemorative Committee on the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act.

Ms. Augustine has shared her expertise and enthusiasm with others as a member of several community boards, including those of York University, the Hospital for Sick Children, the Donwood Institute and Harbourfront Corporation. She is former national president of the Congress of Black Women of Canada. Every year, she makes a better future for young women through the Jean Augustine Scholarship, a fund that helps single mothers attend George Brown College and Centennial College in Toronto.

Ms. Augustine has donated her archival and parliamentary materials to York University's Faculty of Education, thus creating the opportunity to establish an innovative academic position, the Jean Augustine Chair in Education in the New Urban Environment.

She has been honoured by many organizations for her leadership and community involvement and has been awarded honorary doctor of laws degrees by the University of Toronto, the University of Guelph and McGill University. In December 2009, she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada.

She attended the University of Toronto, where she earned bachelor of arts and master of education degrees. She became an elementary school principal with the Metropolitan Separate School Board in Toronto. From 1988 until 1993, she was chair of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority.