Worldwide, the number of refugees is increasing each year. This past year, according to the UN Refugee Agency, one in 67 people around the planet — more than 122 million individuals — remained forcibly displaced from their home country, almost double the 1 in 114 people a decade ago.
It’s an epic humanitarian challenge for Canada and other countries that can offer safe harbour, but a panel of experts at the Save Havens and Knowledge Networks conference on May 22 focused their discussion on opportunities for Canada to attract talent from displaced populations.
“In the current context of diminishing opportunities, of funding cuts and other things, many eyes are on Canada and on what kind of opportunity Canada provides to the world for refugees,” said Sandra Elgersma, a Canadian representative with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, also known as the UN Refugee Agency.
Universities, a major Canadian employer offering job opportunities in academia, administration, maintenance and information technology, should be on the lookout to fill open positions with skilled and talented individuals from among the growing global community of displaced people, said panelist Dana Wagner, co-founder and managing director of TalentLift Canada. TalentLift is an international recruitment agency that helps Canadian employers hire workers from refugee populations.
She said bringing displaced people into the labour market also means working with and supporting non-academic employers to help them navigate the immigration process.
When it comes to matching displaced individuals with jobs in Canada, and obtaining work and residence visas, refugees face various administrative barriers to gaining a foothold in Canada and meeting employment eligibility requirements.
Panelists identified a central problem as the very long processing time for residency applications in Canada, which affects the ability of displaced people to apply for employment.
“Six months would have to be a marker for any country or entity that is interested in pursuing this kind of work,” said Bassel Ramli, director of Global Mobility at JumpStart Refugee Talent. “If it’s longer, what we found is that it’s much more difficult for employers to forecast that far into the future.”
Furthermore, in countries where Canada doesn’t have a diplomatic presence, such as Somalia, there is a lack of pathways for collecting biometric data, like fingerprints, which are required for visa applications in Canada.
In other countries, such as Ukraine, alternative methods for completing biometrics have been made available, which could be considered a model for other countries to improve accessibility and facilitate the entry of skilled workers to Canada.
“It’s part of changing the narrative from refugees as something you have to deal with or host, versus trying to involve people and integrate them into your labour market and into your community.”
— Sandra Elgersma, United Nations Refugee Agency
“There are straightforward solutions for these types of things, but currently it takes time and it takes a bit of advocacy,” said Wagner.
English language testing can also be a significant barrier to entry since Canada only accepts in-person language tests. However, sometimes it can be difficult or even dangerous for refugees to travel to an in-person test site, making it inaccessible to many.
“There’s still these unnecessary barriers,” Wagner said. She said in the future, the aim is to have remote language tests to improve access.
For those who are looking to come to Canada, many are building their skills to help them gain admission. The panelists discussed the “skills lift effect,” where refugees invest in building their skills, seeing it as a passport out of displacement and to a stabilized living arrangement.
However, when accepting those who possess skills that would be an asset to the Canadian labour market — an important factor when bringing refugees to work in Canada — it’s essential that in addition to employment opportunities, they have supportive communities and financial assistance when they arrive.
“It’s not about having someone arriving in the country, it’s ensuring that they have what’s needed to succeed,” Ramli said.
Ultimately, the panelists agreed that displaced people must be recognized for the talents they possess and what they can bring to the Canadian labour force, rather than just being seen as refugees representing a problem and potential cost to taxpayers.
“It’s part of changing the narrative from refugees as something you have to deal with or host,” urged Elgersman, “versus trying to involve people and integrate them into your labour market and into your community.”
