Message to Canadian Employers: Hire Skilled Immigrants

The Canadian economy is growing at a much faster rate than the Canadian population. The Canadian population would not be growing if it were not for immigration. To maintain economic growth, Canadian businesses are reliant on the large pool of new skilled immigrants, who by 2011 will account for all net labour force growth in Canada. The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) has recently launched an awareness campaign to educate labour-tight Canadian corporations about the benefits of hiring Canada's skilled newcomers.

Despite the pressing need for new workers in the growing Canadian economy, many Canadian businesses are still not actively pursuing the internationally-trained immigrant talent pool. Commonly-cited obstacles for Canadian businesses regarding hiring newcomers are language barriers and the difficulties involved in assessing internationally-obtained credentials. TRIEC and hireimmigrants.ca are reaching out to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Canada. They are providing the tools and resources to overcome these obstacles and to educate SME's about the benefits of hiring skilled immigrants. Through the hireimmigrants.ca website, Canadian companies can access tools and resources to help them find, interview, hire, promote, and retain skilled immigrants in their business.

Not only does hiring skilled immigrants benefit Canadian businesses and the Canadian economy, it also improves the Canadian immigration and settlement process. A Canadian job offer can be the ticket to priority processing for Canadian Permanent Resident applicants. Essentially, if newcomers can be on the job as soon as they arrive, Canada will see to it that they get here quickly. Arranged Employment, under the Federal Skilled Worker category is one option. Another is the various Provincial Nominations Programs, central to which is a job offer from a provincial employer. In addition to facilitating the immigration process by reducing the wait times, immigrants who integrate into the Canadian workforce upon landing are also much more likely to successfully transition into Canadian society.

For those who have arrived without yet obtaining a job, programs such as hireimmigrants.ca are setting the groundwork for newcomers to transition into meaningful work in Canada by encouraging employers to tap into this important source of new employees. Many Canadian businesses need workers. Many skilled immigrants need jobs. Matching the two parties is quite straightforward...and the awareness is building.