AIESEC Laval

Committed to helping meet the need for specialized labour in the Québec City area

For the past 50 years, the international platform AIESEC has been active in 107 countries and enables young people to explore and develop their true potential thanks to a student-run international internship program. In Canada, 28 universities have an AIESEC office on campus and the one at Université Laval has set itself apart by its excellence. Voted best local committee in 2007 and 2008, the Québec City student association already has numerous achievements to its credit and was recently given the task of organizing a national conference that will bring together more than 300 delegates to be held in January 2010.

Beyond a doubt, AIESEC Laval’s presence in the region has positive repercussions for businesses and government organizations. By recruiting student trainees or graduates from one of the member countries, AIESEC Laval meets the labour needs of its clients in crucial fields such as information technologies as well as giving them the chance to call on individuals in a position to help them develop new markets.

For example, Rayco-Wylie Systems, the world-class manufacturer of crane monitoring systems, has benefited on more than one occasion from the services offered by AIESEC Laval and appreciated the quality of the trainees hired. In 2007, the company welcomed a Brazilian trainee who helped develop this specific market and Rayco-Wylie Systems has chosen to repeat the experience, this time opting for a trainee from India.

“Our trainee Rakesh Gupta will help us establish new corporate relations with businesses based in India. He will undoubtedly enable us to penetrate this market more rapidly,” maintains Rayco-Wylie Systems president Normand Hinse.

Trainees can extend their internship by up to 18 months and then have the possibility of renewing their contract and consequently taking up long-term residence in the area. In 2008, AIESEC Laval welcomed eight trainees and, at the time of writing, has already planned to receive 12 in 2009. “To welcome someone from a foreign country into our ranks is a tremendous help to both our economic and social development,” Mr. Hinse adds.

The quality of the support offered by AIESEC Laval is not limited to recruiting the right person for the right job. So that their clients avoid any possible misunderstandings, the students in charge of AIESEC Laval assume the task of explaining local customs and culture to their trainees, guide them through the process of obtaining a visa, help them find an apartment and organize various social activities to help them integrate.

“In recent years, I have got to know the association and its members really well. I am very impressed by their energy and commitment to AIESEC, their colleagues and the students they cater to at the university,” maintains Patrick Hurley, director of Université Laval’s Centre des activités internationales.

“AIESEC Laval enables its student members to become true agents of change by helping them develop their management skills and sense of initiative through innovative projects. In short, AIESEC-Laval strives to respect a fundamental value: excellence,” asserts the student association’s spokesman Jérôme Gagnon-Voyer.

AIESEC Laval