Hiring International Talent

With the labour market in St. John’s metro becoming more competitive, businesses are increasingly looking to recruit international talent. Immigration is key to fulfilling labour market demands and there are several pathways to hiring.

Photo: Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador assists employers with their recruitment, retention and skills development needs. The Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism (OIM) regularly hosts information sessions specifically for employers. If you are an employer within Newfoundland and Labrador and would like to learn more about how OIM can help address your labour shortages, contact [email protected].  

The Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) is a pathway to permanent residency for skilled workers and international graduates of Canadian institutions who want to work and live in Atlantic Canada. The program helps employers hire qualified candidates for jobs they haven’t been able to fill with the local labour market. 

Tony Bliznakov, owner of Venice Pizzeria, successfully used the Atlantic Immigration Program to help staff his business. It was a win-win for Tony and his newcomer staff, and it was a much easier process than he expected. Venice Pizzeria: Atlantic Immigration Program Success Story

The Government of Canada recently announced several immigration measures to help attract top talent in high-growth industries in an effort to fuel innovation and drive emerging technologies. The Tech Talent Strategy includes plans to update ongoing immigration programs, develop new programs, and leverage targeted draws through Canada’s Express Entry system.

TaskForceNL has also recently initiated a program to work with employers and industry associations and municipalities to facilitate connections to immigrant job seekers.

The steps an employer will need to take to hire and assist a prospective international employee in obtaining necessary work authorization, will ultimately depend on the individual scenario. Find answers to your questions about hiring a foreign worker, including how to hire and what your obligations are at the Government of Canada Help Centre.

Post-secondary students represent 20% of the total City of St. John’s population.

City staff welcome new students to St. John's

The City of St. John’s continues to partner with the College of the North Atlantic and Memorial University to welcome students and newcomers to help them settle in and feel at home. Welcome Week allows us to engage and connect with students and is the first step in encouraging them to choose St. John’s as a place to live and work. Students form a large and important part of our community adding vitality, diversity, and culture to the city, not to mention, an immense source of talent. These students are the future of St. John’s, they are the leaders of tomorrow and part of our role is to ensure they want to stay here to become employees and employers in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

advantagestjohns.ca/study-here/

NL Startup community only province in Atlantic Canada growing

Entrevestor's 2022 Atlantic Canada Startup Report concludes the Atlantic Canadian startup industry saw modest growth in 2022, but still reached 807 firms. Though the growth rate was low, the total employment figure is the highest number ever seen with 9,400 employed in the sector in Atlantic Canada. St. John’s and the Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) startup community led the region in launching new companies. About one-fifth of NL’s companies were launched in 2022 – a far higher percentage than the 14 percent recorded by the Atlantic Canadian startup community overall. Oceantech is the fastest-growing sector in the region and, in St. John’s, the medtech segment is hot as Bounce Health Innovation has been nurturing young companies, working closely with Memorial University's Centre for Entrepreneurship and Eastern Health, the province’s largest health authority. The report also highlights the admirable mark Newfoundland and Labrador has made in nurturing startups headed by immigrants. Entrevestor produces data and news on Atlantic Canadian startups.

Atlantic IP Advantage Program

Springboard Atlantic, a network of Atlantic Canadian Universities and colleges connecting industry with researchers, new Atlantic Intellectual Property (IP) Advantage program, will help startups protect their ideas and innovations with IP. The program will assist startups in Atlantic Canada develop a robust IP strategy and implement it, while raising awareness of IP in the region. Startups can apply for funding of up to $50,000 and have up to 90 percent of costs covered to develop an IP strategy. There is an additional $25,000 available to execute the strategy, also with 90 percent covered by Springboard’s program. Startups must be working with business incubators or accelerators to be eligible for this funding. There is also a requirement to take IP training before applying. Atlantic IP Advantage is one of five regional programs to execute IP training & funding across Canada with partnership and funding from the federal government.

New job accelerator and growth program

A new Job Accelerator and Growth Program, created to increase investment in Newfoundland and Labrador, offers eligible applicants with payroll rebates to encourage the creation of new jobs. This program incentivizes businesses to make a commitment to the province and invest in the growth of the local economy. Get more information Job Accelerator and Growth Program - Industry, Energy and Technology (gov.nl.ca).

Reaffirming its commitment to provide air access to St. John's, WestJet's winter schedule features new year-round service to Calgary for the first time ever as well as the return of popular service to sunny Florida. Read the full story.

Photo: Ritchie Perez

Be sure to check out Downtown St. John's offering of many wonderful places to eat, shop, relax and explore. Read the full post.

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