Bringing Employers Into the Immigration Debate

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Bringing Employers Into the Immigration Debate

• Yves Poisson
• Director of Special Projects
• Public Policy Forum

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Project Objectives

• To determine the extent employers think recent
  immigrants
• could fill their current or future labour market
  needs
• Face challenges when they are hired or integrated
  into the workforce

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Methodology

• Survey of 2091 employers across the country
• Survey observations made by region, and cities
  (including Atlantic Canada ad Halifax)
• Focus groups in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and
  Moncton
• Conference in Ottawa on November 4 to discuss
  policy implications

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Outline of Presentation

• Key Findings
• Positives
• But
• Policy Implications

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Key Findings

• Employers
• have a positive attitudes towards immigrants and
  immigration
• see benefits to hiring immigrants
• open to being involved in strategies to help
  integrate immigrants into the workforce.

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Positive attitudes towards immigrants and
immigration
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Positive attitudes towards immigrants and
immigration
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Benefits to Hiring Immigrants
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Benefits to Hiring Immigrants
Q.19a Have immigrant employees required any
special training beyond what might be required by
a Canadian-born employee? (Prior to July 9,
wording was Have employees who have been in
Canada for less than ten years required any
special training beyond what might be required by
a Canadian-born employee?)Subsample Those whose
organization currently has immigrants as part of
its labour force
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Benefits to Hiring Immigrants
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Benefits to Hiring Immigrants
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Benefits to Hiring Immigrants
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Benefits to Hiring ImmigrantsFocus Group
Results

• Hardworking
• Good work attitude/respectful
• Loyal
• Often highly skilled
• Create a more diverse workplace
• New ideas
• Flexible will work shifts that are hard to fill
• Will work for less money initially
• Help to serve immigrant clients in their language

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Open to being involved in strategies
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Open to being involved in strategies
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Key Findings

• BUT Employers also
• overlook immigrants in human resource strategies
• Face challenges when hiring immigrants
• are not hiring immigrants at the level they were
  trained
• face challenges integrating recent immigrants
  into their workforce

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Overlook Immigrants in HR strategies
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Overlook Immigrants in HR strategies
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Overlook Immigrants in HR strategies
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Overlook Immigrants in HR strategies
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Overlook Immigrants in HR strategies
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Face Challenges When Hiring Immigrants
Q.11 From what you have seen or heard, what do
you think are the main difficulties that
immigrants face during the following phases of
the job hunting process the initial application
phase, prior to getting an interview getting
called in for an initial interview getting
called back for a second interview or a job
offer?Note Respondents were previously
instructed to always think of someone who has
lived in Canada for ten years or less when they
hear the term immigrant.
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Face Challenges When Hiring Immigrants Focus
Groups Results

• Language, language, language! (Comprehension,
  writing, comprehensibility)
• Lack of experience with Canadian work
  culture/business etiquette
• Temporary want to go to other larger Canadian
  cities (Moncton)
• Not able to work in a team
• Frustration with being overqualified for their
  jobs
• Cultural differences/misunderstanding holidays,
  language, way of dressing themselves, religion
• Sexism (i.e. Muslim men who refuse to obey a
  woman)
• Harder to integrate to working teams
• Harder to assess skills/qualifications

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Do not hire immigrants at their level of training
Q.6a Thinking about the unique needs of your
organization, which of the following best
describes the requirement for potential
employment with your organization? (Prior to July
9, wording was Thinking about the unique needs
of your organization, which of the following best
describes the prerequisite for potential
employment with your organization?)
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Do not hire immigrants at their level of training
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Do not hire immigrants at their level of training
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Do not hire immigrants at their level of training
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Do not hire immigrants at their level of training
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Do not hire immigrants at their level of training
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Do not hire immigrants at their level of training
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Do not hire immigrants at their level of training
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Face Challenges Integrating Immigrants into the
Workforce
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Face Challenges Integrating Immigrants into the
Workforce
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Face Challenges Integrating Immigrants into the
Workforce
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Policy Implications

• 1. Employers need to be informed and engaged in
  discussions on selection and levels.
• 2. Employers should be engaged in regionalization
  strategies.
• 3. Employers should be encouraged to develop
  strategies to hire immigrants more effectively.

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Policy Implications

• 4. Promote existing credential recognition
  services and develop new services where
  appropriate.
• 5. Improve language training, especially
  occupationally-based.
• 6. Create tools to encourage cultural
  understanding.