Hiring and onboarding immigrant talent
Creating an inclusive and welcoming work environment helps immigrant employees succeed—leading to greater retention, engagement, and productivity.
Best practices for hiring and onboarding
Inclusive Recruitment Strategies
Recognize that looking for ‘Canadian Experience’ is not only often unnecessary but could violate the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Use bias-free job descriptions and avoid industry jargon.
Partner with immigrant employment agencies and networks to broaden your hiring pool.
Offer flexible interview processes to accommodate diverse experiences.
Learn more about foreign credential recognition to validate international education
Inclusive Onboarding Strategies
Lead by example and openly share your knowledge, experiences and resources to new employees
Be proactive in asking questions to help you better understand and accommodate your new employee (consider asking this to your entire team to not single out a new employee).
Consider developing a mentorship or buddy system to help new employees adjust.
Provide ongoing, anti-bias, cross-cultural training for both immigrant employees and existing staff.
Encourage an open-door policy to discuss workplace questions, concerns and challenges.
Ongoing learning
Connect with local organizations about available tools to ensure diversity and inclusion in your organization
Consider conducting Diversity Readiness Assessment to evaluate your workplace’s inclusivity or try a Workforce Impact Calculator to estimate how hiring immigrant talent benefits business performance.
