Humber Polytechnic is partnering closely with workforce development organization ACCES Employment on a research project that helps newcomers to Canada find careers that match their skill sets.

Research Specialist Jeremy Staples is the principal investigator on the Global Talent Advancement Framework: Empowering Internationally Trained Professionals Through a Six-Tier Sector-Specific Bridging Program research project. It emphasizes the need for strategic integration of internationally trained professionals to sustain economic prosperity and calls for improved immigration policies and knowledge-transfer systems to ensure effective integration and inclusivity.

Staples said the current project builds on a prior research project that focused on measuring the Impact of 21st Century Skills Experiential Learning on Internationally Trained Professionals’ Workplace Readiness. It explored some of the barriers that newcomers to Canada experience in the job market and focused on measuring the impact of those newcomers learning about four 21st Century, or future, skills; a growth or learning mindset, emotional intelligence, creative problem solving and working in effective teams on their employment readiness as well as their integration into their workplace once employed.  

It was found that being able to authentically demonstrate these skills in the interview process was something that employers were looking for when evaluating candidates. A trend that will become increasingly critical for jobseekers and employees as the nature of work changes at an ever-increasing pace.  

It also found that the skills can be learned in short learning experiences and that they provide a competitive advantage for candidates during the job search process. It also demonstrated that the new skills and insights helped program participants successfully navigate the complexity of their new workplace once hired and that this impact lasted over an extended period.  

Staples added that more than 70 per cent of respondents to a follow-up survey said this training made a difference once they were employed and helped them in the workplace.

Given what was learned in the first project, ACCES came back to Humber in January requesting that they leverage this preliminary research to study all six tiers of their customized approach to effectively bridging newcomers to Canada into the labour market at a commensurate level.   

“We’re delighted to continue our work with Humber Polytechnic to gather additional evidence that illustrates the value of our strategic approach to workforce development,” said Allison Pond, president and CEO, ACCES Employment. “The initial phase of this research has further positioned us to scale future-ready skills and experiential learning as effective means to help skilled newcomers enter the Canadian labour market, at a commensurate level. Now, as we partner a second time to examine our approach in its entirety, we applaud Humber’s efforts to profile strategies that strengthen the employment sector so that more jobseekers can benefit.”

Staples said that they will now explore each of the six tiers to measure effectiveness and impact.  
 
“You’re trained in your home country, and you have skills Canada needs.  Canada has accepted you into this country under the high skills category but then you struggle to get a job in that industry because you don’t know what you don’t know about how to get hired,” said Staples. “If we want highly skilled newcomers to come to Canada, then we need to make sure we’re providing a pathway for them. If we just let them come here and take on what we might call survival skills jobs, then we’re wasting that talent.”

While the unemployment rate isn’t particularly high now, Staples notes that Canada has an ageing workforce that will need to be replaced and has been propped up in recent years by immigration. He also hopes that strengthened support for newcomers will mean that they remain in Canada instead of, as evidenced by media reports, saying they can’t make it work here and leaving.

Canada is struggling with declining productivity and innovation challenges and research projects such as this can help address those issues by preparing newcomers for work in this country that aligns with their skill set.

Meanwhile, Staples hopes that the research can be further used to provide insight for policymakers about how to design effective bridging programs when it comes to employment for newcomers.

As part of Building Brilliance: Our Vision to 2030 and Beyond, we are shedding the traditional constraints of higher education and reimagining a model that both adapts to and shapes the world around us. Humber has a powerful convening ability and we can bring together key players from across the entire ecosystem - nationally and internationally - in ways that others cannot. By 2030, Humber will be the go-to destination for partners who want to solve problems, increase productivity, commercialize their innovations, and succeed in a competitive market. We’ll be their engine of productivity and growth. By making bold decisions around how we fundamentally operate, we can reimagine learning, forge deeper partnerships and drive impact, creating real value and progress. This story is an example of how we are building brilliance by developing deeper partnerships every day.