Borderlines

#130 - Challenges and Benefits of Hiring Immigrants, with Alice Craft


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Alice Craft is a Research Associate in the Immigration knowledge area at the Conference Board of Canada. She recently published a paper titled Small Business, Big Impact Immigrant Hiring and Integration in Five Canadian Cities.


We discuss the key findings of that study -- namely, that:


  • In fast-growing small and mid-sized Canadian cities, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in multiple sectors identified skill shortages as their most common employment challenge.
  • SMEs are using practical and inclusive strategies to evaluate newcomers’ education and experience, but they rarely intentionally reach out to newcomers or work with immigrant‑serving agencies during recruitment and onboarding.
  • SMEs prioritize English/French language skills, particularly spoken communication, when hiring immigrants. Language skills are particularly important in client-facing roles or those involving safety regulations.
  • Negative experiences and limited understanding of immigration processes discourage SMEs from engaging with the immigration system.
  • Affordable housing and access to public transit and child care compound labour market challenges for both job-seeking immigrants and SMEs looking to hire and retain talent.


We also discuss her recommendations.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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