THUNDER BAY – A new immigration website aimed at Northwestern Ontario employers has been launched and designed to tackle an ongoing labour shortage in the region.
The Employer Portal, found at www.movetoNWOntario.ca, was developed in collaboration with 32 communities across the Northwest, the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association, City of Thunder Bay, regional employers, economic development agencies and employment agencies.
The goal is to connect businesses with immigrants looking to fill the employee gap in Ontario’s Northwest, educating employers on how to hire newcomers and calm any concerns when it comes to international skills and qualifications, visas and work permits.
Cathy Woodbeck, the executive director at the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association, said the portal is a necessary step, one that’s been a long time coming.
She said many communities and many employers were on board with attracting and keeping newcomers to fill jobs that otherwise were going unfilled, but weren’t sure the best way to approach the hiring process.
“The resources there are for all of those needs,” Woodbeck said. “How to recruit, what the process is like, what do you do step-by-step, who the resources are in the region to help you do that, what you can do at your work place and how you help a newcomer through the steps of things they may not know about – like the tax process, housing or (other) issues.”
Woodbeck said at one recent point there were at least 1,200 openings that have gone unfulfilled in Northwestern Ontario, as employees struggle to find people qualified and/or willing to do the work.
“There’s just no way of filling them,” Woodbeck said.
“We started to get calls from employers asking if we had anyone who is an upholsterer, who is a mechanic, who is a truck driver or a (personal service worker). There are so many jobs available and we just want to fill that gap.
“(Immigration) isn’t going to be an answer to everything, it’s going to be a few.”
Olga Sadikova, a immigrant to Canada via the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Dubai, said the city has been a welcoming community, adding a resource like the Employer Portal is an important tool for anyone looking to hire a newcomer to the country.
“It’s important from an employer’s standpoint, to be educated on how they can help us settle in, in the community,” said Sadikova, a human resources manager at a local hotel, said simply hearing other success stories is proof positive the impact immigrants can have, which is why the portal is so vital.
“I think we’re on the right track, having this,” she said.
