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Internationally Trained Workers

This resource kit is adapted from components of existing ITW recruitment and retention guides to focus specifically on the electricity sector.

  • HR Managers
  • Job Seekers
  • Diversity
  • Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI)
  • Hiring Practices

EHRC Labour Market Intelligence 2009-2011 Report

Employers are most interested in hiring immigrants when they have hard-to-fill vacancies: usually highly specialized roles or highly in-demand occupations. When economic, labour market or business conditions ease these pressures, the interest wanes.

With an aging workforce, impending mass retirements, and decreased enrollment in related educational programs, internationally trained workers will play an increasingly significant role in meeting the sector’s labour force needs. It is important for employers to create long-term recruitment strategies to maintain employment equilibrium, otherwise organizations will experience marked peaks and valleys in terms of employee demand that create large cohorts in specific age groups.

Maintaining sustained levels of employment and diversifying job pools will mitigate the impact of mass retirement; internationally trained workers can support these organizational efforts.

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Plugged In Cover page

Plugged In: Accessing the World’s Talent Resource Kit

Internationally Trained Workers (ITWs) are people who were educated and trained in other countries and who gained work experience outside Canada. They may be:

  • Immigrants
  • Refugees
  • Foreign students living in Canada
  • Citizens of other countries willing and able to work in Canada; or
  • Canadians who trained or worked outside of the country

 

Electricity Human Resources Canada (Electricity Sector Council, at the time), with the support of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, started this project to help employers recruit and retain ITWs. The result was Plugged In: Accessing the World’s Talent—a resource kit adapted from components of existing ITW recruitment and retention guides to focus the material on the electricity and renewable energy sector. The kit also contains resources and regulations specific to provinces and territories, as well as best practices that currently exist within the industry.

Some of the resources and tools you will find in this kit include:

  • The business case for the recruiting ITWs
  • An overview of the recruitment process
  • Licensure/Certification requirements
  • Tips for integrating ITWs into the workplace, including an Orientation Checklist
  • Examples of best practices, including a summary of promising practices

Resources Developed by EHRC

Resources Developed by Others

Other Publications

  • Attracting, Retaining and Integrating Skilled Immigrants: An Analysis of Canada’s Leading Employers. Allies-Maytree. January, 2011.
  • Hiring and Retaining Foreign Workers: Information for Employers Considering Hiring Temporary Foreign Workers. Government of Alberta. March 2010.
  • Hiring International Workers in Atlantic Canada: An Employer’s Guide. Atlantic Provinces Economic Council. March 2010.
  • Immigrant-Friendly Businesses: Effective Practices for Attracting, Integrating, and Retaining Immigrants in Canadian Workplaces (report) The Conference Board of Canada, November 2009.
  • Instructor Curriculum Framework for a Working in Canada Seminar. Engineering Qualification Recognition Model. University of Manitoba. March 2008.
  • Recruiting, Retaining and Promoting Culturally Different Employees (book) Lionel Laroche and Dan Rutherford. Butterworth-Heinemann. 2006.