Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER December 11, 2017 6 NEWS and embrace international talent, said Ruari Spillane, recruitment consultant at Moving2Canada in Vancouver. "In spite of the multiculturalism in Canada, in spite of the diversity, there's such a strong emphasis on local experience," he said. " ere's a little bit of reluctance to engage in the immigration process, and as a nation of immigrants, we should all be familiar with how people are coming in, and (seek) more edu- cation in terms of how the process works and just how simplifi ed it's become... Canadian companies have a fantastic opportunity to innovate through international recruitment." Immigration as a solution Immigration is becoming Cana- da's diff erentiator, said Spillane. "Canada has diff erentiated it- self on being multicultural and pro-immigration, and the general feedback we seem to see is a lot of Canadians favour the fact that the country is so open," he said. "Canada as a nation is import- ing smart people. We're bringing in more people, but we're setting the standard a lot higher… A lot more of these people are contributing more in terms of entrepreneurship or they're having more of a positive impact on the economy." A merit-based system commit- ted to permanent residency works to both satisfy the aging economy and empower employers to seek employees who will benefi t them long-term, said Spillane. And population growth isn't the main goal of the government's plan; rather, its focus is on better life quality and healthy economic and labour growth, said Kareem El-Assal, senior research associate in immigration at the Conference Board of Canada in Ottawa. "Right now, immigration makes up 90 per cent of our labour force growth, so it's absolutely key," he said. "We want to increase the lev- els gradually, not rapidly, because that allows us to basically adapt to ensure that we have enough jobs on the ground as well as sup- ports in place for immigrants to succeed." Boosted immigration levels are needed to respond to the ag- ing population and low birth rate, said El-Assal. "Right now, immigration is making up about 75 per cent of Canada's population growth and it's going to make up 100 per cent of our population growth by the early 2030s, and that's because by then, Canada's death rate is going to exceed our birth rate." But it's important to remember that immigration is not the only solution, he said. "Immigration is not a panacea. It's part of a multifaceted eco- nomic development approach that Canada will need to pursue to address the rapid number of baby boomers retiring." Aging workforce Last year, employees aged 55 and over made up 36 per cent of the working-age population and that fi gure is expected to climb to 40 per cent over the next decade, according to the 2017 Statistics Canada report e Impact of Ag- ing on Labour Market Participa- tion Rates. Factors include the ag- ing of the baby boomer generation — born between 1946 and 1965 — as well as below-replacement fertility rates. ough participation in the la- bour market has increased among older workers, the growth is not enough to off set the negative im- pacts of the decline in core-age workers, said the report. e elimination of mandatory retirement rules has definitely helped, said Lisa Goodfellow, em- ployment lawyer at Miller om- son in Toronto. "We are having a lot of people stay in the workplace longer now, but we can see from the demo- graphics that a lot of them are going to be leaving in the next 10 years, so we are expecting la- bour shortages," she said. " e fact that people are working lon- ger and waiting longer to retire is helping… It's delaying the impact somewhat. It's coming in more gently than was expected." e detrimental impact of the aging workforce has lessened as more seniors work up to a decade past 65, said Jacquelyn Scott, pro- fessor of organizational manage- ment at Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia. However, a crisis point is on the near horizon, she said. "Part of it we could be dealing with now, because those of us who are continuing into our early 70s, we need to get out of the way of some people that need to be pro- moted. e countervailing dam- age of us sticking around is that we are holding back some younger people who are ready for more responsibility." Five million Canadians will re- tire by 2035, according to Hussen. "(Boosted immigration levels) help us to ease the great challeng- es of the coming years, such as the slowing labour force growth and labour shortages linked to Cana- da's aging population," he said. "If we're going to be able to com- mit to keep our commitments for health care, for pensions, and all of our other social programs, and to continue to grow our economy and meet our labour market needs in the decades to come, we must respond to this clear demographic challenge." Advice for HR Employers in the private sector could benefi t by getting on board in terms of recognizing foreign skills, said El-Assal. "The biggest challenge is getting employers to recognize foreign education and to value foreign experience, because that's the crux of the matter," he said. While immigration is a crucial strategy, so is providing training to young domestic workers, said Goodfellow, and employers need to stay abreast of changes to im- migration programming while also investing in skilling up local workers. "For the long-term good of our economy and our society, corpo- rations should invest in provid- ing those training opportunities themselves." Domestic workers defi nitely re- quire further skills training as AI and technological improvements continue to alter the look of the future workforce, said El-Assal. "We're going to have to be cog- nizant of the fact that automation and other forms of technological disruption are going to impact our labour market, and so we'll have to keep that in the back of our minds," he said. Flexibility in workplace policy will also be critical going forward, said Scott. "Employers have to be very, very fl exible... You need to design your incentives to work for your industry sector and your popula- tion, in terms of where your work- force is going to be drawn from." Aging workforce a factor IMMIGRATION < pg. 1 Building inclusive workplaces The most appropriate strategies to foster diversity and inclusion amongst staff in Canada still remain subjective, according to Anna Kostecka, senior manager of learning initiatives at the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC). "There has been a lot of conversation about the business case and the moral imperative for diversity and inclusion, and we know that organizations do get that. But the challenge comes in the execution: How exactly do you create an inclusive workplace?" TRIEC has launched an Inclusive Workplace Competencies framework to help "fi ll the gap," she said, and it sets out expected behaviours through 15 competencies that defi ne the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for an inclusive workplace. The competencies are framed under self, team and organizational behaviours. They include: advocating for diverse perspectives (self); collaborating in diverse teams to foster productive outcomes (team); and responding to inappropriate and non-inclusive behaviour (organization). "It's taking the conversation to the next level… It's really about providing the 'how' and a clear language," said Kostecka. "My hope is that this model will help organizations and people within them to move from intention to action." Specifi c competencies or skills expected from employees can be added to job descriptions or performance management materials, she said. "You are able to be very explicit about what you expect," said Kostecka. "From this abstract 'diversity and inclusion,' it becomes very concrete and focused on behaviours." VISIT HRREPORTER.COM TODAY STAY ON TOP OF THE LATEST TRENDS IN HR Featuring a blend of breaking news, in-depth analysis and opinion from industry experts, hrreporter.com is a go-to resource for the human resources community. Canada's Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 31. Credit: Chris Wattie (Reuters) " e biggest challenge is getting employers to recognize foreign education."

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