New York’s UniWorld Group (UWG) and Toronto’s Monsoon Communications have jointly launched a new agency to give WPP access to multicultural ad services in Canada.

Dubbed UWG Monsoon, the new shop will specialize in strategies that offer brands a more comprehensive understanding of the different ethnic consumer segments in Canada. It will operate out of WPP’s recently opened campus in the Toronto’s Waterfront Innovation Centre.

Founded in 1969, Brooklyn-based UWG is an affiliate of WPP and is the oldest full-service multicultural agency in the U.S. It has worked with the likes of The Home Depot and Ford’s Lincoln brand.

Meanwhile, independent agency Monsoon was founded in 2010 and has worked with Scotiabank, Air Canada, Freedom Mobile and Loblaw.

Monsoon will continue to operate as an independent agency in Toronto with its own roster of clients. There will be no changes to the ownership or management team headed by Sachi Mukerji as CEO and Ramesh Nilakantan as COO. UWG president and CEO Gregory Edwards says the joint venture gives the agency a footing for serving the Canadian market, a first step in its international growth plans.

For Monsoon, agency CEO and ECD Sachi Mukerji says the partnership is “a validation of [its] strategic vision” that will give it access to a wider client base.

“We made the decision that the best way to grow as a multicultural agency…would be an alliance or partnership of some kind with a major advertising network,” Mukerji says. “It had to be a big place, as there are limits for multicultural agencies operating independently.”

Monsoon’s size means access to top decision makers is not as easy as it is for a bigger shop, Mukerji says, and it now has access to a wide repertoire of clients.

The partnership has been about a year in the making, and Edwards met with other agencies before deciding UWG and Monsoon “should start dating.”

Mukerji tells strategy it is getting “tremendous” support from WPP, and that it is in the process of staffing up its new operation. “We will be making bold decisions about who we hire in the next couple of weeks,” he says.

Penelope Chow (pictured above), a nine-year veteran of Monsoon and member of its leadership team, will go on what is described as a “special assignment” as UWG Monsoon’s managing director, charged with leading the new agency and driving growth.

According to Chow, with the federal government planning to welcome 500,000 new immigrants annually by 2025, it’s now more important than ever for advertisers to incorporate proven newcomer strategies into their overall marketing plans.

“This partnership creates new opportunities for our teams to flex their multicultural knowledge, insights, strategy, data and creative muscles, and we couldn’t be more thrilled,” she added.