Enabling Refugee Employment in Canada

Refugee employment is an increasingly relevant topic in today's world. With the recent Syrian refugee crisis, the Canadian government has made clear commitments to help resettle Syrian refugees. From a physical intake lens, the government has already helped resettle about 40,000 Syrian refugees in Canada (of which about 50% are above the minimum working age). From a financial lens, the federal government is planning to spend about $300M for refugee resettlement assistance (from 2016 to 2019). Although these refugees will represent only a minute share of the total Canadian workforce, they offer valuable skills and represent unlocked economic potential. As Canadians, we have a responsibility to help them into the workplace so that they can be fully integrated into Canada.

Refugee employment is a particularly important topic for me. When my family immigrated to Canada some fifteen years ago, my mother faced similar challenges to the refugees while trying to enter the Canadian workforce. For instance, her professional certifications and training were dismissed because they were not from a "recognized" institution. Even her prior work experiences were overlooked because Canadian employers did not recognize Chinese companies. Consequently, my mother had to start over. My mother's experience in trying to enter the Canadian workforce has motivated me to find ways in which I can support refugee and immigrant employment.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss refugee employment with a diverse group of stakeholders. From speaking to local small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to global corporations with activities in Canada to government agencies, a few common challenges emerged:

• Businesses are unwilling to hire refugees because there is no Canada-specific business case. Many employers hold a misconception that there is no business case to employing refugees.
• Corporations do not have a "refugee employment" mindset and few have cohesive recruiting strategies. Most companies do not hold a company-wide effort to consider refugee employment in their annual recruiting plans.
• Current skill assessment and documentation are insufficient to understand refugees' true competencies. While the Canadian government has a formalized skill assessment process, it is often not sufficient to give employers an idea of the refugee's true competencies. Consequently, employers are hesitant to hire a refugee if they have doubts on the refugee's skills.

Addressing these challenges require significant public-private partnerships. However, as a management consultant, there are a few things that I can do to make sure that incoming refugees have a much better experience entering the workforce than my mother had. 

• Develop a Canada-specific business case. To develop a Canada-specific business case, we can start by leveraging findings from a recent study done by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Germany. BCG found that the main upfront costs (sourcing and qualifying refugees, language training, additional vocational training, and everyday support) amounted to an additional €7,500 to hire refugees. However, public funding and added earnings generated by refugees in understaffed jobs and industries can easily offset the investment, resulting in payback period of only one year. By creating a Canada-specific business case, we can use facts and an economic rationale to encourage companies to hire refugees.
• Influence clients through an executive voice. In addition to sharing the business case with employers, we can also increase our clients' awareness on the corporate social responsibility upside. In many organization transformation projects, we introduce hiring or promotion targets for women and minorities. As refugee employment gains more relevancy, we can also suggest that clients introduce targets to hire skilled refugees. As an industry best practice, Starbucks Canada has already committed to hiring at least 1,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years.
• Maintain a presence in forums and share solutions. By bringing the right public and private sector stakeholders together, we can help bridge the gap between information assessed by the government and information needed from employers. As an interim solution, employers can offer more entry-level positions to test the refugees’ skills. In doing so, employers should be open to promoting a refugee faster if he or she proves to have the right competencies.

Addressing refugee employment is important to increasing Canada's talent pool and unlocking economic potential. The solution is not simple, but each stakeholder – public agencies, private sector companies, and even me – has a critical role. We need to progress this dialogue among stakeholders and create tangible improvements that make it easier for refugees to integrate into the Canadian workforce. In doing so, we will truly help these refugees resettle to a place where they can call home.