Toronto, Ontario, April 2, 2009 – Halifax based Maple Trade Finance Inc. has been named as one of Canada’s Best Employers for New Canadians for 2009.  

The twenty winners of this year’s award were announced today by ‘Canada’s Top 100 Employers’ through major newspapers across Canada.  

Launched in 2007, the Best Employers for New Canadians competition is managed by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers in partnership with Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council, a non-profit organization with extensive experience in immigrant employer issues. This special designation recognizes the nation's best employers for recent immigrants. These employers offer interesting programs to assist new Canadians in making the transition to a new workplace -- and a new life in Canada. 

Employers of any size operating their business in Canada are eligible to apply or may be nominated for this award, whether private or public sector.  

“At Maple Trade Finance, we recognize and embrace the benefits of cultural diversity and the richness that new immigrants bring to Canada,” said Carole-Ann Miller, President of Maple Trade. “We are a company that supports Canadian businesses selling their products and services internationally. Employing staff members whose origins are within that culture and environment, and who understand from personal experience how to do business in that market is of tremendous value to our clients.”  

Maple Trade Finance (MTF) provides financial services to Canadian businesses that export their products and services. The principals of Maple Trade Finance recognize that Canadian companies have an advantage in their unique access to potential employees from every country in which they do business. MTF has been fortunate to recruit individuals with the language skills and the knowledge of the various countries and cultures that are importing their client’s products.  

“When we need an employee with particular language capability, inevitably our first call goes to MISA (the Metro Immigrant Settlement Association of Halifax),” said Ms Miller. “With our current staff of 22 people, we now have fluency in eight languages.”  

Maple Trade Finance has successfully recruited employees through Nova Scotia’s Immigrant Nominee Program, as well as having provided immigrant work experience for new arrivals to Canada through MISA’s WINS (Work in Nova Scotia Program).  

Maple Trade Finance is a unique company driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and a recognition and appreciation of the value of cultural diversity.  It is an innovative financial institution, in many ways, not just in its recognition of the value of a diverse workforce. The company has taken the best of the conventional banking industry, combined it with the flexibility of traditional factoring companies and created a fresh new approach to funding Canadian companies.