TalentOyster employers named "Best for Diversity"

This past week four different TalentOyster employers (three of them original TalentOyster employers) were named as one of Canada's top 45 "Best Employers for Diversity" by Mediacorp Canada. Loblaw Companies Limited, Mount Sinai Hospital, Xerox Canada and Telus all made this exclusive list for 2011.

Congratulations to all these organizations for winning recognition for their efforts to improve the diversity of their workforces in the past year and commitment to continuing in the year ahead.

Recognition of organizations making a real effort on diversity is a good thing, if, for no other reason then it helps get the message on the importance of diversity into the mainstream media and consciousness. But positive recognition is also good because it encourages all companies to evaluate their own efforts in order to compete with others.

With our countries demographics being what they are, and with the economy continuing to rebound, expanding the diversity of your workforce becomes less about doing the "right thing" and more about doing what must be done. Progressive employers, like the ones on TalentOyster, know that if they want to actually hire the best candidates available they must include diversity groups as part of their candidate search. Those companies, like the ones listed as Canada's best diversity employers are well positioned to continue to be successful because they are simply more committed to diversity, the only real source of future labour force growth in Canada.

To read more about "Canada's Best Diversity Employers" check out the story in the Globe and Mails Report on Business here

Big year for Canadian Immigration but...

Some big news this past week with the announcement that in 2010 Canada took in more immigrants, over 280 thousand, than in any other year since 1960. Good news which was made even better by the stated government position on immigration as given by Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

"Canada's post-recession economy demands a high level of economic immigration to keep our economy strong."

As RBC president Gord Nixon said last November newcomers are "one of Canada's great competitive advantages". So it's good to see the government getting on board with what various business leaders and think-tank groups have been saying for years.

But will the immigrants who do come, be happy enough to stay?

Coming on the heels of December's slashing of grants to some settlement agencies it appears as if the quota of reunification visas (visas issued to family members of those currently in Canada) will be cut from 15,000 to 11,000 for 2011 and that's a policy that concerns more than a few people. Liberal immigration critic Justin Trudeau has accused the government of not being "up front with new Canadians", saying

"They enticed skilled workers to come to Canada with a promise their parents and grandparents will soon be able to follow. They’ve cut funding for the settlement services that provide supports, and now they’re cutting the family support system along with it."

These are serious and valid concernns because as implied, immigrants who don't stay in Canada won't be contributing to our labour force or helping our companies stay diverse and vibrant. In fact, immigrants who leave after a couple of years are the very worst case scenario because the sunk costs of settlement and integration into the social and employment fabric have already been spent.

Increasing immigration is one the key ways for Canada to continue to avoid the economic meltdown that has spread across Europe these past few years, shrinking and stagnant economies exactly the kinds of problems that increased immigration prevents. 2010 was overall a good year for immigration to Canada, the numbers don't lie but we need to be doing more to make sure new immigrants to Canada make this their permanent home. And it seems on that front there is still plenty of room for improvement.