Talent is Everywhere

There are 26 million people living as refugees around the world who have fled conflict or persecution. Many of them have skills needed by companies and communities across Canada.

Employers can now access this talent pool. TalentLift and our partners are working to connect hiring managers with job seekers who are refugees, unlocking global job and skilled visa opportunities as a new solution to displacement. 

If just 1% of the international talent moving to Canada to fill skills shortages came from within refugee populations, thousands of people would be contributing their skills, rebuilding their lives alongside their families, and leaving displacement behind. 

We envision a world where talented people living as refugees can compete for global jobs and skilled visas, and where access depends on potential and not the privilege of living without fear.

Mohammed is a fullstack developer working and living in Kitchener, Ontario, with the procurement software firm Bonfire. Bonfire interviewed and hired Mohammed while he was living as a Syrian refugee in Lebanon. Mohammed had registered with the global non-profit Talent Beyond Boundaries, a TalentLift partner, eager to contribute his skills and grow his career. He had a bachelor’s degree in information technology but, like many refugees, Mohammed couldn’t legally work in Lebanon, get decent pay or treatment, or reach his full potential.

Today he’s a core part of an industry-leading team and has a secure future ahead.

What’s New at TalentLift

  • In the News: Here’s one way Canada can help displaced Latin American workers
    Canada can immediately and actively share responsibility by offering displaced people across Latin America safe passage through access to programs for skilled immigrants, Craig Damian Smith of Ryerson University and Dana Wagner of TalentLift explain in an opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail. They argue that better access to work permits would revolutionize […]
  • Policy brief on opening Canada’s skilled visas as a solution to displacement in Latin America
    Displacement crises are unfolding across Latin America as people cross borders to seek safety from oppression, violence and environmental disaster. The number of Venezuelans alone who have fled their homes is approaching the scale of displacement caused by the war in Syria. They and others from across Central America are in neighbouring countries, often without […]
  • Reimagining relocation to Canada, where access depends on potential and not privilege
    A software developer landed in Toronto in March 2019, greeted by his new team members from a tech firm in Kitchener. Months later a chef arrived who would start working in Mississauga, and next came an engineer headed for Niagara Falls.  In a few more months, a healthcare employer from Pictou County would return from […]
  • The colour came back
    Nawar Alkhaleel paints in the morning and only in sunlight when each detail she brings to life is most visible. She begins with the eyes. The face, hair and posture that form a portrait in her mind extend on the page from there.  Her portraits are women built by colour, and their gaze, when it […]