A family is greeted by new colleagues from Paramount Fine Foods in Toronto. The chef and his family arrived from displacement under Canada’s Economic Mobility Pathways Project.

Canada is redesigning skilled immigration pathways to include talented applicants living in refugee circumstances worldwide. New steps announced today send a signal that as Canada welcomes record numbers of skilled newcomers to grow our companies and communities, this country will deliberately include the immense talent within refugee populations.

Marco Mendicino, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, signaled a more inclusive skilled immigration system under the federal pilot Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP), which aims to improve access to Canada’s skilled visas.

He spoke alongside Mohammed Hakmi, a fullstack developer hired by B onfire and the first candidate to arrive under the EMPP, Lisa Smith, CEO of Glen Haven Manor, a pioneering long-term care facility that hired 15 nurses living as refugees in Kenya and Lebanon, and Khodor Ramlawi, one of those talented nurses.

The changes announced by the Minister include:

Expedited processing standard for federal permanent residence pathways: This can reduce total processing timelines to somewhere closer to 8-10 months depending on the first application stage, whether through a Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, or other programs.
Alternative proof of settlement funds: This can overcome one of the main financial barriers, which is the requirement to demonstrate personal savings, typically in a bank account, that can approach $20,000 for a family of three. Refugees often have little or no savings after years in displacement. Enabling the use of loans to meet this requirement would be a much-needed, sustainable solution.
A flexible application process: This may refer to the use of scanned documents which can overcome tech, printing, and postage barriers while enabling more efficient paperless workflows. Traditionally, some permanent residence applications have been paper-based and require original documents, signatures and photos.
Waiving fees for permanent residence: This can further reduce the costs of skilled immigration that fall to applicants, reducing strain on their finances before arriving in Canada and earning a first paycheque.
Valid passport not required: The alternative, use of a single journey travel document (SJTD), enables travel after a Canadian visa is approved without need for a valid passport. Refugees often have expired or no passports, and it can be unsafe or prohibitively expensive to renew or obtain one for immigration purposes.

Critically, the Minister did not yet signal his intention to extend access to work permits to displaced talent. This change would revolutionize their access, by allowing them to compete far more equitably with talent from other backgrounds.

Work permits are the single fastest and most relied-upon entry into Canada for skilled workers. But applicants to work permits must demonstrate their ability to leave Canada, effectively shutting out anyone who had to flee their home country and can’t prove strong ties to another home. If displaced talent can’t access work permits, they have to arrive on the extended timelines of permanent residence, rendering them non-competitive for many employers who need the speed and predictability available to other talent. Additionally, they’re excluded from many permanent residence pathways that require or favour applicants with in-Canada work experience.

Bottom line: Canada is building a more inclusive and equitable skilled immigration system designed to attract and retain talent, regardless of circumstance, to power teams and new home communities. This will be a major source of hope for people living displaced who have potential, and now have opportunity.

We can’t wait to support more teams in Canada to source this incredible talent!

Work permits can bring this progress to scale. You can learn more about the imperative of full work permit access in a Globe and Mail op-ed by Craig Damian Smith and TalentLift’s Dana Wagner, a follow-up Globe and Mail column by Doug Saunders, and a policy brief released by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Ryerson University.

Ways to get involved:

Minister Mendicino announces latest steps to redesign skilled visas for talent in displacement