New immigrants have been identified as the largest, most promising source of skilled labour to grow the economy and offset attrition rates in our current labour force. All of our labour market growth in British Columbia will come from immigration by 2015, according to Statistics Canada. However, attracting and retaining immigrants will require a different approach from traditional recruitment and management practices.

These resources provide the business case and practical resources for accessing, hiring and retaining immigrant employees.

Guides & Resources

Diversity Canada 2011. Discover the secrets of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers.
http://www.canadastop100.com/conference/diversity/2011/index.html

Hireimmigrants.ca. Tools and resources to recruit, retain and promote skilled immigrants.
http://www.hireimmigrants.ca/index.php

Hiring and Retaining Skillded Immigrants – A Cultural Competence Toolkit. BC Human Resource Management Association.
http://www.bchrma.org/researchvoice/immigrant_talent_integration.htm

Immigrant-Friendly Businesses: Effective Practices for Attracting, Integrating, and Retaining Immigrants in Canadian Workplaces by Vadim Kukushkin and Douglas Watt. Conference Board of Canada.
http://www.conferenceboard.ca/documents.aspx?DID=3278

Recruiting, Retaining, and Promoting Culturally Different Employees by Lionel Laroche, Ph.D and Don Rutherford. Available through Amazon.ca

Accessing the Talent Pool

There are many avenues for accessing internationally trained workers, whether through an accelerated immigration process for someone you want to hire, hiring a foreign worker on a temporary basis, or hiring immigrants and international students who already live in Victoria.

Prospective employees may be found through local immigrant services, networks and professional associations, specialized training or bridging programs and post secondary institutions.

BC Internationally Trained Professionals Network.
http://www.bcitp.net/

BC Skills Connect Program. Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society.
http://www.vircs.bc.ca/employers.php

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program. Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development.
http://www.welcomebc.ca/wbc/immigration/index.page?WT.svl=Topnav

Career Oriented ESL Programs. Camosun College.
http://camosun.ca/learn/programs/esl.html

Hiring International Students. University of Victoria.
http://coop.uvic.ca/index.php?page=prospective_employer_hiring

Immigrant Skilled Trades Employment Program (ISTEP). BC Construction Association.
http://www.istepbc.ca/

Mentoring Program for Immigrant Professionals. Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria.

Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Human Resources Development Canada.
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/index.shtml

WorkBC. Information and resources on recruiting foreign workers, temporary foreign workers, and hiring immigrants already in BC.
http://www.workbc.ca/employers/welcome.htm

Diversity & Essential Skills Development

READ Society Workplace Learning Program. Customized services may include blending basic skills education with on-the-job training through one-on-one teaching, on-site short courses and individual learning plans. A workplace learning program can help improve employees’ basic skills in reading, writing, mathematics, computer skills and English as a second language.
http://www.readsociety.bc.ca/workplace.htm

Building Cultural Connection to create Culturally Welcoming Communities & Businesses. ICA and its partners offer a series of no-cost in-depth diversity training workshops complemented by online learning modules to help your business or organization become more inclusive and successful.

For more information on the Diversity Workshop, please contact Steven Lorenzo Baileys at 250-388-4728 ext 116 or sbaileys@icavictoria.org