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

  • Ontario breaks new ground with refugee-inclusive design in skilled immigration system
    Ontario recently updated its intake system for prospective skilled immigrants with a design tweak that enables the province to conduct targeted draws for applicants who are both skilled and living in refugee circumstances. It may be the first example of refugee-inclusive design in the development of a Canadian skilled immigration system.  The new “expression of […]
  • TalentLift pioneers visa services for displaced talent as a Civil Society Organization with the Law Society of Ontario
    TalentLift supports Canadian employers to find and relocate talent from within refugee populations, and is the first non-profit talent agency of its kind to offer clients in-house visa services. We achieved registration as a Civil Society Organization with the Law Society of Ontario this month.   The Law Society of Ontario introduced a new Civil Society […]
  • 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 […]