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.

Addressing the Talent Crisis in a Canadian way

Talent Crisis: It's a term you'll often hear in the world o' recruiting, especially in the Canadian talent market, where recruiters have been facing talent shortages in many industries for 5+ years now. But what does it mean? And is it just hype?

It's not just hype: As baby-boomers retire out of the workforce in record numbers across North America and the EU, the lower birthrates of the past 25 years mean there are more people leaving the workforce than entering it. In Canada, the consequences of this reduced workforce is exacerbated by restrictive immigration policies and other factors.

What does this mean? Five years ago, Statistics Canada predicted that by 2011 there would be 350,000 more jobs than workers; thanks to the recession, StatsCan and the Conference Board of Canada now predict the shortfall to happen sometime between 2011-2015. But talk to any Canadian recruiter today and they'll tell you: In many industries, professions and roles, the talent crisis is already in full swing and will only get worse.

According to Paul Dodd (President of Head2Head, a Canadian recruiting services firm) in The talent crisis is coming – are you ready?, "companies are already starting to see the effects of the coming talent crisis [...] employers who continue to ignore changes in the talent marketplace will find that, within five years or less, they will run into serious problems attracting, hiring and retaining top talent."

So how can TalentOyster help?

By connecting employers to new, untapped talent pools.

In Canada, there are just under 6,000,000 people who are in at least one of three of the groups designated as 'diverse' by the Employment Equity Act. But mainstream media doesn't connect with these groups in the amounts or effectiveness that they do with others and since most sourcing is driven by mainstream media the problem with accessing this potential great pool of talent becomes clear. You can't source from groups you're not touching after all.

TalentOyster is a unique job board because it's community driven. The media that does touch these groups, the hundreds of in-language print publications from coast-to-coast, the online and other media properties used by these communites, is the heart of what TalentOyster's parent company does and is. We speak to these communities, with messages they understand and appreciate every day. All of this means that TalentOyster has recruiting-industry exclusive access to an untapped pool of talent, almost 6,000,000 strong.

And that's a pretty good way to start addressing the Talent Crisis.

And we think a pretty Canadian way of addressing it too.