The unique visa program that enables employers facing skills shortages to hire talent from within refugee populations, the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP), is extended until the end of 2025. 

The pilot will continue in its current form until December 31, 2025, to a maximum of 950 applications. 

This is a fantastic step to ensure hiring teams across Canada can continue sourcing talented individuals living in refugee situations for in-demand roles. Meanwhile, candidates can continue investing in their Canadian job search and upskilling towards new opportunities – just like talented people anywhere.

This is one powerful solution to displacement that meets Canada’s workforce needs. 

Peter Melo is the general manager of Allstone Quarry Products, and has hired two candidates with stone masonry backgrounds to join his team. In a recent Globe and Mail story, he said, “they’ve both become very valuable employees, and they’re just great people.”

It’s an energizing experience to support new colleagues to leave displacement. “I was buzzing for months about it. They were so grateful,” Peter said. “It was a really, really special feeling.”

What we’ll be watching

There are two main things we’ll be keeping an eye on. First, a cap of 950 is not very high and will likely be met before the end of the year. A demand-driven pilot should have room to grow, and Canada shouldn’t place an arbitrary (and low) limit that risks predictability and speed.

Second, we’ll be watching for a renewed pledge to make the EMPP permanent. This extension gives an important runway for Canada to work towards developing a permanent program that works even better for employers and the talented people they hire. 

If you’re an employer or part of a team in Canada with open roles

Get started hiring! You’ve got a world-class visa pathway open to you. And it opens up a vast talent pool of folks whose potential is often underleveraged where they’re living, who are keen for an opportunity to put their skills to use – in a safe new home for themselves and their family.

Start meeting some remarkable candidates to join your team. 

TalentLift can support you across talent search, visas, and settlement coordination for a seamless international recruitment experience. 

If you’re a job seeker living outside Canada in refugee circumstances

We encourage you to register your skills and experience with TalentLift, where you become part of a talent pool that is visible to our Canadian employer hiring partners. Please see our candidate journey map for more information on TalentLift’s process, including ways to keep competitive and begin your own job search. 

If your application under the EMPP is already in process

There is no effect on your application from these updates, and we really hope to welcome you soon. TalentLift will continue advocating for increasingly swift processing times, so new colleagues can quickly land in the workplaces that need them.

If you raised your voice in support of the EMPP

Thank you for being part of our community. 

Many people across Canada raised their voices in support of continuing this important program. This deeply matters at a moment when humanitarian funding and programs are ending globally. 

We must do things differently in Canada. We know that newcomers of all skillsets are needed by teams and communities across the country, and our work is ensuring these opportunities reach folks for whom a job is also a path to a secure future. People who have had to leave their homes for safety can have highly valuable experience and, often, a deepened desire to contribute. 

This program is keeping our workplaces competitive, creative, and values-driven places to be.

Candidates living in refugee circumstances and seeking a job in Canada can join TalentLift. Employers seeking global talent while engaging their team in something transformative can start hiring.