Elevate: An Entirely Canadian Experience

Elena Gamanyuk considers CASTL’s Elevate program to be absolutely unique. 

“In my experience, there’s no other country in the world that offers a program like Elevate,” she says. “It’s such a rational approach to creating a ready-made workforce for the biomanufacturing industry while ensuring individuals—especially newcomers—are able to quickly integrate into Canadian society and contribute their education, skills, and abilities.” 

Elena, who worked as a senior-level quality assurance specialist in the medical bioengineering field, emigrated from Russia in 2024, settling in Ontario with her husband and nine-year-old daughter. There were several motivations behind the move, not least of which was the chance to expand her professional development opportunities. 

“After a decade of working in Russia and other parts of Europe, I felt like I had hit a career ceiling,” she says. “I wasn’t learning new skills or knowledge, there was little room for promotion, and I felt my professional life was stagnating.” 

Canada was an attractive option for a fresh start. Apart from what she considered an open and accepting culture, it offered a very pragmatic immigration process that put heavy emphasis on employability. Furthermore, Elena already had a language advantage, speaking both English and French. The decision made, she put significant effort into preparing for the transition. 

“We received our permanent residency status in February 2024, and I enrolled in three different pre-arrival programs, learning as much as possible to ensure I would be able to hit the ground running once we arrived,” she said. “It was during one of those programs when I participated in a virtual job fair that I heard a presentation by CASTL. I was immediately intrigued.” 

Recognizing the strong connection between biomanufacturing and her own education and experience, she applied to the Elevate program even before she arrived in the country. 

“Biomanufacturing and the medical device industry share many principles and regulatory requirements and both industries are grounded in a common goal for patient safety,” Elena says. “After investing so much in my career, I wanted to stay in a quality control role and Elevate provided the chance to further develop my experience.” 

Shortly after arriving in Mississauga, which the family deliberately chose because of the numerous medical bioengineering companies located there, Elena began the six-week Elevate program in September. 

“It was an intense curriculum, but CASTL’s team explained each step of the course, what was involved and what we could expect,” she says. “They made every effort to make us comfortable and prepared. Between that and my prior experience, I was able to quickly connect new concepts to my own working knowledge.” 

Elena found value in all aspects of the program: the theoretical component provided a foundation in the concepts and principles of biomanufacturing; the practical part of the training, which she completed at CASTL’s Charlottetown facility, allowed her to put those principles into practice; and the job readiness part of the curriculum helped her build her confidence. 

“Everyone involved in delivering Elevate were not only professional, but they were passionate about their work,” Elena recalls. “It’s hard not to be inspired and motivated in that kind of environment.” 

It was during her week of training in Charlottetown when Elena made a providential observation: she happened to notice that one of her instructors was wearing a jacket with the Resilience corporate logo. Not long after completing the program, she came across a job posting with the company. She contacted her instructor, who had previously worked for the company, for his advice and whether he might be able to provide a contact at the company to whom she could communicate with directly. 

“Even prior to leaving Russia, I applied to numerous jobs in Canada through the usual online channels,” Elena recalls. “I didn’t receive a single response. I was left feeling disheartened and disregarded.” 

However, by taking a direct person-to-person approach to inquire about the position and share her resume—which was further strengthened by her association with CASTL and her instructor’s good reputation with the company—she received a response in under 3 hours. 

“The power of networking can’t be underestimated and CASTL plays a huge role in helping participants, especially newcomers, build a professional network,” Elena says. 

By January 2025, Elena was in her new role as a Deviation Specialist with Resilience, a biomanufacturing CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) that focuses on biological therapeutics and technologies for innovative patient care. Similar to her earlier work, she investigates issues that may arise during the pharmaceutical production process to discover root causes and put forward corrective actions to mitigate the problem. It’s exactly what she was looking for—a new lease on personal and professional development and a wider scope for career advancement. 

Elena believes Elevate has been essential to her success. 

“I really can’t recommend Elevate enough,” Elena concludes. “The staff and instructors are brilliant. The create an amazing learning atmosphere with the highest level of professionalism. I don’t think I would be where I am today if I hadn’t taken the opportunity that CASTL provides.” 

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This article is part of a series that celebrates some of the many success stories that have emerged from Elevate, CASTL’s national biomanufacturing training program. Designed for young workers, new Canadians, and others seeking out career opportunities in Canada’s biosciences sector, Elevate teaches the technical skills needed to fill entry-level positions in this fast-growing industry. 

Applications to the Elevate program are open, apply here to take part in one of our upcoming cohorts.

The program is made possible through funding from Upskill Canada, powered by Palette Skills, and the Government of Canada.