International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
236
Employers who wish to recruit economic immigrants from abroad, who would not
be entering Canada temporarily, are advised to seek an Arranged Employment
Offer (AEO) from HRSDC if they wish to offer a permanent full-time position to a
skilled worker. AEOs are an important feature of the FSWP; they are worth up to
15 points of a possible 100, with 67 needed to qualify for immigration, in the FSWP.
As of the most recent evaluation of the FSWP, 13.5 per cent of principal applicants
in the FSWP from 2002 to 2010 received an AEO (CIC, 2010b). Immigrants
who enter Canada with arranged employment enjoy substantially better labour
market outcomes compared to those who do not across every indicator of labour
market performance. Employment earnings three years after landing were nearly
twice as high for those with arranged employment, for example. However, there
is comparatively little research on the pre-departure characteristics of those who
receive AEOs, or the origin of AEOs. We do know that the most common positions
recruited were, by large margins, senior management positions or associate/assistant
professor positions (CIC, 2010b). This implies that immigrants who receive AEOs
usually have existing ties to the Canadian labour market, Canadian firms, or access
to a strong international social network (for instance, academia).
Online resources maintained by government departments
The Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FRCO) has published a document called
Employer’s Roadmap to Hiring and Retaining Internationally Trained Workers (FCRO
2011a), designed to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with
essential information and guidance on legally hiring foreign workers. The document
also emphasizes that long-term vacancies in skilled occupations are likely to persist
unless Canadian businesses, particularly SMEs, actively recruit immigrants.
In order for any of these matches to take place, however, employers must be in a
position not only to contact those living abroad, but have enough information to make
a job offer. Otherwise, recruitment of those applying for permanent residence would
be a matter for the previous sub-section, since they would not be recruited until after
they arrive in Canada. The methods used are varied; for multinational corporations
with locations overseas, their recruitment practices do not differ significantly for this
class of worker, since they have direct contact with any potential permanent resident
or temporary worker. However, SMEs do not have the human resources or staff to
devote to international recruitment to the same extent, nor are they as likely to have
locations or contacts abroad. These organizations often use intermediaries to recruit
foreign workers, both formally and informally.
Immigration consulting services
Formally, there are a number of consulting services and agencies that offer their services
to employers, both on a for-profit and non-profit basis. The Canadian Association
of Professional Immigration Consultations 150 (CAPIC) connects businesses with
150 See http://www.capic.ca/index.php?page=main for CAPIC’s website.