International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
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Canada. Since the vast majority of resources are now online, a primary action under
the CIIP is to increase awareness among skilled worker applicants of existing online
resources. It also provides extensive referrals to immigrant-serving organizations,
sector councils, and regional governments with Province Nominees Programs streams
in place that would be more advantageous than FSWP. An important feature of this
initiative is that it began as an outreach programme which automatically contacted
principal applicants in the final stage of the FSWP, though response was voluntary.
Once contacted, applicants are offered to participate in a three-step process.
The first step consists of group seminars providing basic information about the
Canadian labour market. This includes: information on the Canadian economy
and labour market trends, integration challenges faced by immigrants – such as
credential recognition and language requirements – and job-search instruction. In
the second step of the process individual counselling sessions are provided which
are designed to help applicants produce a personal action plan for labour market
integration. The individual counselling sessions take place prior to departure and
are guided by each applicant’s particular situation and run in partnership with
licensing bodies, post-secondary institutions, regulatory bodies, and employers
to ensure that each applicant receives the most complete information they would
need prior to immigrating. The third step of the process consists in providing
referrals to immigrant serving organizations that can assist applicants remotely
in preparing to immigrate or search for a job. Referrals are also made to postsecondary
institutions to prevent immigrants from being unprepared or unable to
meet unexpected educational requirements.
CIIP originated as a 5-year pilot project in 2005 by HRSDC, and continued as
a CIC project from 2010 onwards, after successful evaluation. The primary actor,
however, was and remains an immigrant-serving organization, the Association of
Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC). With funding from CIC, ACCC currently
implements CIIP in accordance with goals established through consultations with
HRSDC, CIC, other immigrant-serving organizations, and the results of the
evaluation of the pilot project. Between the launch of client services in January 2007
and the conclusion of the pilot project in November 2010, CIIP provided direct
service to 9,000 FSWP and PNS applicants from India, China, and the Philippines,
through offices established in Delhi, Guangzhou and Manila. The response to the
project from the migrants surveyed was overwhelmingly positive; among other
encouraging outcomes, 62 per cent of economic immigrants who participated in
CIIP prior to arriving in Canada found employment within six months of arriving
in Canada, compared to 44 per cent for economic immigrants overall (Chapter 11).
A characteristic feature of the Canadian Immigrant Integration Project is that
employers are involved in providing labour market information to prospective
migrants. In the pilot phase of the project, Canada’s five major banks and companies
in every major sector of the Canadian economy, such as energy, health care, and
IT participated in the project, typically offering résumé advice and seminars on job
search strategies and career opportunities to migration candidates.