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Building Capacity in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to Hire Immigrants

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Project Lead

Wendy Cukier

Team Members

Mohamed Elmi, Tony Fang, Rupa Banerjee

In recent years, there has been a surge of highly qualified and skilled immigrants moving to Canada, yet research suggests that the Canadian workforce may not always be equipped to hiring new immigrants, this is especially true for small and medium enterprises.

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Objective 

Understanding the gap between existing immigrant integration services and the needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in hiring and retaining newcomers, this action research project aims to not only analyse the barriers to hiring newcomers and strategies for eroding these barriers but also to develop tools and training to support SMEs in improving their practices.

This project will develop a framework, tools and techniques to better support SMEs in hiring and retaining newcomers by addressing leadership and strategy, human resources and culture as well as the value chain or business processes, and community partnerships.

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Research Question(s)

  1. What are the barriers faced by SMEs in hiring and retaining newcomers?
  2. How can SMEs build their capacity to support and hire newcomers?
  3. What are models and best practices to support SMEs in hiring newcomers?
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Methodology

This research will use a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative). Qualitative data will be collected through semi-structured interviews, and quantitative data will be collected through surveys. The interview and survey questions will be informed by frameworks for advancing equity, diversity and inclusion strategies tailored to the context of SMEs and the needs of diverse newcomers. Quantitative data will showcase and assess the capacities of SMEs in hiring and retaining newcomers. Based on the findings, the recommendations and best practices section will be presented.

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Status

The project is currently in progress.

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Outcomes

Past events and conferences: 

  • 鈥淧anel: Changing perceptions, building capacity鈥�, presented by Wendy Cukier, National Workforce Strategic Plan (NWSP) Summit, June 2, 2025
  • 鈥淎I, remote work, and productivity: An international conference鈥�, welcome note and chairmanship by Tony Fang and Wendy Cukier, St. John鈥檚, Canada, May 8鈥�9, 2025
  • 鈥淏est practices for employers to hire immigrants鈥�, presented by Wendy Cukier, Tony Fang, and Guoxiang Mo, 27th Metropolis Conference, Toronto, Canada, March 14, 2025
  • "Mental healthcare service barriers for immigrants in Canada鈥�, presented by Ariadna Pauliuc, Global Conference on Migration and Health Equity, Sydney, Australia, January 30鈥�31, 2025
  • 鈥淏uilding capacity in SMEs to hire immigrants鈥�, presented by Wendy Cukier, Katlynn Sverko, and Tania Saba, Cannexus 2025, Ottawa, Canada, January 27鈥�29, 2025
  • 鈥淓DI and anti-racism struggles in the post-George Floyd era: Transformative strategies for sustainable culture shift鈥�, keynote presentation by  W. Cukier, Canada Leadership Summit and Nation Builders Award 2024, hosted by the Canadian Congress on Inclusive Diversity and Workplace Equity, October 5, 2024
  • 鈥淒igital skills training 鈥� Supporting underrepresented groups鈥�, panel participation by W. Cukier, Skills for Success (SFS) Annual Forum, September 19, 2024
  • 鈥淧athways to employment: Career mobility and upskilling for newcomers and immigrants鈥�, presented by W. Cukier, Leveraging Newcomer Talent to Empower Canada鈥檚 Workforce, Toronto, Canada, August 22, 2024
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Keywords

Small and medium enterprises; migrant employment; hiring; equity, diversity, and inclusion; employment integration