Canada’s HR community has overlooked the country’s pool of newcomers
Canadian employers are bracing themselves for a skills shortage over the next decade. Enlightened organizations have found a way to address that shortage, by tapping into a reservoir of potential talent — Canadian newcomers. (In this age of heightened security awareness and daily coverage of the continuing threats around the world from terrorists, the term “immigrant” often takes on a negative connotation for some.)
In Calgary alone, about 10,000 Canadian newcomers land each year and roughly another 5,000 relocate from other Canadian centres. They come from all over the world and from many different backgrounds. However, they all have one thing in common: the desire to live in, and contribute to, Canadian society.
These Canadian newcomers have trouble getting jobs in Canada, which negatively affects the Canadian economy. If these newcomers are not working, they are not paying taxes and are therefore unlikely to be contributing to the economy as meaningfully as they could be.
Why does the business community overlook this high-potential area of the workforce? They say the newcomers lack Canadian work experience, Canadianized qualifications and language skills. There is no question that work experience can be a problem, particularly for young newcomers and those with little education or few skills. However, the latest Canadian census notes these newcomers are more educated at the same time their market worth has been declining.
Assessment organizations are linking up with educational institutions to address the problems newcomers have in finding jobs. Last year, the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) helped more than 7,000 immigrants settle into the Calgary area. The CCIS has clients from 96 countries, and 700 volunteers. The CCIS established a program with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology called the Engineering Trade and Technology Program. The aim of the program is to certify professional newcomers with a technology-related qualification, which should aid them in at least breaking into the Canadian workplace. (The Mennonite Centre for Newcomers in Calgary established a similar program with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology called Engineers and Technologists Integration Program.) Most of the people taking these courses hold at least one engineering degree and, in many instances, two.
Of course not all of the newcomers to Canada are highly trained professionals, but many are. They deliver our pizzas, drive our taxis and clean our offices, because these are the jobs that many of them are forced to take in order to feed themselves and their families.
Given the scale of the opportunity and the calibre of professionals available, why are the CCIS and other organizations not facing a deluge of Canadian companies wanting to hire their people? Good question.
There are a few companies that appear to have taken advantage of this proverbial pot of gold — which in Calgary alone consists of approximately 2,000 newcomers, all with professional degrees, relevant work experience and a humbling eagerness to be given an opportunity in their fields of expertise.
Their motivation, work ethic and positive attitude are some of those soft skills that, when absent, can make managing people incredibly difficult.
Some Canadian businesses have woken up to this reservoir as an answer to the skills shortage. Never mind refilling jobs made vacant through normal turnover, in the face of the skills shortage how are organizations going to grow over the next decade? Without newcomers to bolster employee ranks, compensation and benefits costs will escalate in the competition for scarce talent.
HR professionals with an open mind will take advantage of an idea that makes both commercial and HR sense. They will follow in the footsteps of companies like Bantrel, Husky Oil, Shell Canada and SNC Lavalin, and investigate the untapped potential of the country’s professionally trained newcomers.
These companies aren’t pursuing quotas or even offering special treatment for certain workers. All they offer is an opportunity. The rest is up to the newcomers themselves, just like for any new Canadian employee. Tapping into this reservoir of talent isn’t even a risky strategy. It is merely a calculated gamble, the same as any hiring decision.
The motto of the CCIS is: “I was a stranger and you made me welcome.” They may be strangers, but if the skills shortage materializes as predicted these newcomers will be welcome indeed.
Natalie Bagwell is an HR co-ordinator for Shell Canada Limited in Calgary. She can be reached at (403) 691-3741 or [email protected].
In Calgary alone, about 10,000 Canadian newcomers land each year and roughly another 5,000 relocate from other Canadian centres. They come from all over the world and from many different backgrounds. However, they all have one thing in common: the desire to live in, and contribute to, Canadian society.
These Canadian newcomers have trouble getting jobs in Canada, which negatively affects the Canadian economy. If these newcomers are not working, they are not paying taxes and are therefore unlikely to be contributing to the economy as meaningfully as they could be.
Why does the business community overlook this high-potential area of the workforce? They say the newcomers lack Canadian work experience, Canadianized qualifications and language skills. There is no question that work experience can be a problem, particularly for young newcomers and those with little education or few skills. However, the latest Canadian census notes these newcomers are more educated at the same time their market worth has been declining.
Assessment organizations are linking up with educational institutions to address the problems newcomers have in finding jobs. Last year, the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) helped more than 7,000 immigrants settle into the Calgary area. The CCIS has clients from 96 countries, and 700 volunteers. The CCIS established a program with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology called the Engineering Trade and Technology Program. The aim of the program is to certify professional newcomers with a technology-related qualification, which should aid them in at least breaking into the Canadian workplace. (The Mennonite Centre for Newcomers in Calgary established a similar program with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology called Engineers and Technologists Integration Program.) Most of the people taking these courses hold at least one engineering degree and, in many instances, two.
Of course not all of the newcomers to Canada are highly trained professionals, but many are. They deliver our pizzas, drive our taxis and clean our offices, because these are the jobs that many of them are forced to take in order to feed themselves and their families.
Given the scale of the opportunity and the calibre of professionals available, why are the CCIS and other organizations not facing a deluge of Canadian companies wanting to hire their people? Good question.
There are a few companies that appear to have taken advantage of this proverbial pot of gold — which in Calgary alone consists of approximately 2,000 newcomers, all with professional degrees, relevant work experience and a humbling eagerness to be given an opportunity in their fields of expertise.
Their motivation, work ethic and positive attitude are some of those soft skills that, when absent, can make managing people incredibly difficult.
Some Canadian businesses have woken up to this reservoir as an answer to the skills shortage. Never mind refilling jobs made vacant through normal turnover, in the face of the skills shortage how are organizations going to grow over the next decade? Without newcomers to bolster employee ranks, compensation and benefits costs will escalate in the competition for scarce talent.
HR professionals with an open mind will take advantage of an idea that makes both commercial and HR sense. They will follow in the footsteps of companies like Bantrel, Husky Oil, Shell Canada and SNC Lavalin, and investigate the untapped potential of the country’s professionally trained newcomers.
These companies aren’t pursuing quotas or even offering special treatment for certain workers. All they offer is an opportunity. The rest is up to the newcomers themselves, just like for any new Canadian employee. Tapping into this reservoir of talent isn’t even a risky strategy. It is merely a calculated gamble, the same as any hiring decision.
The motto of the CCIS is: “I was a stranger and you made me welcome.” They may be strangers, but if the skills shortage materializes as predicted these newcomers will be welcome indeed.
Natalie Bagwell is an HR co-ordinator for Shell Canada Limited in Calgary. She can be reached at (403) 691-3741 or [email protected].
