Addressing Western Canada’s Skilled
Labour
Deficit: A White Paper on Overseas
Recruitment…Invitation, Integration, and
Retention
This white paper is written for human resource managers who wish to recruit and retain qualified skilled tradespersons. (September 2004).
Canadian agricultural producers, suppliers and manufacturers have been faced with skilled labor shortages for years. Federal immigration and temporary work permit programs have failed to solve these shortages due to high rejection rates, long processing times (often years) and bureaucratic processes that frustrate even the most determined. Ironically, there is not a shortage of qualified, skilled workers overseas that are interested in working in small rural towns and raising their families in Western Canada.
Recently, provinces such as Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta
have signed agreements with the Government of Canada to play a more direct role
in selecting overseas skilled immigrants who wish to settle and work in their
provinces. This program is called
the “Provincial Nominee Program” and has proven to be much more effective in
assisting employers in recruiting skilled tradespersons. With this new program, skilled trades
such as welders, machinists, mechanics, heavy-duty operators etc. that
traditionally have had difficulty qualifying, are now able to pass all
immigration requirements successfully.
With this new program, candidates can be processed and arrive in Canada
in roughly 8-10 months versus 3-4 years under the original federal program. Immigration statistics also indicate
that roughly 75% of such immigrants tend to settle for the long term in the
province in which they immigrate to.
The purpose of this brief is to outline some of the recruiting
techniques that our company uses to find qualified, long term candidates for
Western employers under the various Provincial Nominees Programs. We have summarized eleven factors that
help in developing a successful overseas recruitment program:
l
Selection of the Right Immigration Consultant
l
Education of Candidates on Realistic Expectations
l
Determine the Stability of the Family
l
Recruit Groups not Individuals
l
Development of the spouse’s understanding in unison with
candidate
l
Community Support
l
Climate Considerations
l
Attitude and Personality
l
Passion and Consistency in Career
l
Language Considerations
l
Adapting to Rural Living
Steps to a Successful Recruitment Program
Selection of the Right Immigration Consultant
It is important to ensure that your immigration consultant
(responsible for assisting your company recruit overseas candidates) is
credible and is licensed to practice such services in Canada. As of this year, the Canadian
Government requires all consultants practicing immigration to be either
registered as a member of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants or a
registered lawyer. Your choice of consultants is the most important factor in
determining the success of the candidates that you accept and hire. A good consultant will take
responsibility for the screening and immigration applications, allowing you to
focus more on local human resource related issues. Your main responsibilities, in turn, would be to select
which candidates you wish to hire and issue an offer of employment for
permanent work.
Education of Candidates on Realistic Expectations
Often, overseas candidates have unrealistic expectations of their
future life in Canada and are easily disappointed after their arrival. This in turn will affect your retention
rate. To avoid this problem, the
immigration consultant you entrust with recruitment should paint a very clear
picture for the candidates of what life will be like for their families in
Canada. It is best that the
immigration consultant visits your town in person in order to get a clear sense
of what life and work is like and what kind of candidates would be a good match
for your
company. The
following information should also be prepared for interested overseas
candidates to look at:
l
Detailed breakdown of the cost of living in your town
l
Photos of the local town and workplace environment
l
Pictures of your products and training manuals
l
Detailed Job Description inclusive of “Expectations of
Employee” and “ Expectations of Employer”
We suggest recruiting candidates that have a family. Young immigrants (20-27 years old) are
not necessarily the most suitable as they are often not mature enough to know
what they are looking for in life.
Unmarried, their chances of finding their second half in the local town
is even less likely. In other
words, there is a large probability that they will leave shortly after their
arrival. Candidates who have
families (28 years or older) are at a stage in their life where they make
decisions very carefully and understand the value of the Canadian
lifestyle. Once their child is
enrolled in the local school, it is very unlikely that they would consider
moving to another part of Canada.
Moreover, since their family is with them, the feelings of culture shock
and isolation when they first arrive will tend to be less than what it would be
if they arrived alone.
It has been our experience that it is important to hire groups of
overseas tradespersons from the same country. It is more difficult for an individual to adapt to life in a
small rural town when they do not have their own support group or
community. By employing overseas
candidates in groups of 3-10, the chances of them enjoying life are much
higher.
Development of the Spouse’s Understanding in Unison with Candidate
It is important that the spouse of the candidate enjoys life in
their new town. An unhappy spouse
can lead the candidate to consider moving elsewhere or returning to their
native country. Often we find that
the spouses would be happy to enroll in a local English language course or find
part time employment in the local community. You should expect that the spouses of the principal
applicants have limited education but have other skills and are quite happy to
work in local factories, restaurants or motels. Remember if the spouse is at home in isolation, this will
cause problems and should be avoided.
Your immigration consultant should be able to assist you in developing a
program for the spouse.
The community needs to be involved from the beginning. New immigrants will have problems with
language and cultural barriers.
There needs to be a concerted effort on the part of the community to
integrate these newcomers. Many of
the provincial immigration authorities strongly recommend that a town meeting
is held before the immigrant families arrive to insure that the local school is
prepared and housing options are available. Your immigration consultant should be able to guide you on
how to organize such an event. (education, health, travel, food selection,
Canadian habits , all are areas where your community can assist)
Some immigrants, especially from the Southern Hemisphere may have
difficulty adjusting to the climate in Western Canada. It is important that each candidate
understands your local climate conditions. Western Canadian winters are often much dryer and more harsh
that what most overseas immigrants are used to. This, too, can affect your retention rate.
The candidate should have an attitude that is conducive to
accepting challenges and learning new things. There should be an analytical selection criteria. In many cases, the Canadian employer is
unable to meet the candidates in person.
As such, the interview process needs to be entrusted to an immigration
consultant. It is important to
insure that your immigration consultant does meet each candidate in person and
that a comprehensive interview of the candidate and spouse is undertaken. Make sure you understand how your immigration
consultant recruits and screens candidates to insure a proper level of quality
control is administered throughout the program.
It is important to avoid recruiting overseas candidates whose main
objective is to simply immigrate to Canada. There is a risk that candidates are using your company to
immigrate to Canada and plan to move elsewhere or engage in some other sort of
career shortly after their arrival.
Your immigration consultant must have a rigorous screening process
where only candidates that evidence a strong willingness to learn coupled with
a passion for their occupation are selected. When we recruit overseas welders, we require candidates to
show they have been educated as a welder and have engaged in welding since
their graduation. This consistency
is often a clear sign that they are sincerely interested in working long term
as a welder in Canada.
How important is language?
It is often difficult for overseas applicants to improve their English
in their native country. Our
experiences have shown that when they first arrive, listening and speaking
skills are weak. However, after
being immersed in English, within three months they are able to improve significantly. Patience is required by the employer.
As long as the candidate understands the work processes and possesses the
proper skills, their ability to perform will not be significantly hampered by
their initial language level. In
some companies we have worked with, a mentor is assigned during the first
couple of weeks to encourage the newcomer to practice and learn English more
quickly.
Most overseas candidates come from heavily populated
countries. However, most of the
job opportunities in Canada are located in the smaller rural communities. Moving from a city of 12 million to a
small town of 500 people is a major adjustment that can cause considerable
problems for some overseas candidates.
Your immigration consultant should try to recruit candidates that also
live in relatively smaller communities in their native country or at the very
least make sure that the candidates are fully aware of what life is like in
smaller communities in Canada. In
some cases, there may not be a local hospital or medical services/clinics are
only available on certain days.
Transportation is also limited to buses and private vehicles (often
quite different from where the applicant comes from) and activities may also be
quite limited. The basic question
is “will the applicant and his family enjoy and be able to adjust to life
in a Canadian rural community?
“
The Provincial Nominee Programs have shown to work effectively for
Canadian employers under the right conditions and with the right people. Immigrant families usually possess a
strong work ethic and very good skills.
Most importantly, they offer an excellent option for human resource
managers in Western Canada, at a time when it is difficult to find long term
stable tradespeople. Nonetheless,
a rigorous selection and screening process conducted overseas based on the
eleven factors outlined in this article is the first step in creating a program
that works for your company -- a program that is responsive, comprehensive and
dependable.
Written by Chris Slade of the China Canada Educational Consulting
Co. Ltd in collaboration with Canada Livestock Services Ltd. Chris Slade is a registered
member of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants and has a Master’s of
Science degree from the University of Guelph. Chris Slade is currently assisting Canadian employers
recruit welders, machinists, pork technicians, truck drivers, auto body repair
technicians and agricultural mechanics from Asia to immigrate and work in
Canada. If you would like to learn
more about our services, please email chris@explorechina.com.cn