Young leading exodus from lacklustre Canadian labour market

TAVIA GRANT

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

An eight-month stretch of meagre job creation is driving more Canadians out of the labour force, especially the young.

The country’s jobless rate fell two notches to 7.4 per cent in February, but that was because fewer people were looking for work, rather than any pickup in the labour market, Statistics Canada said Friday. The country’s labour participation rate has ebbed to its lowest level in a decade.

Young people are leading the exodus. Their jobless rate hit 14.7 per cent last month – its highest level since October, 2010 – amid five straight months of employment declines. Poor prospects mean almost 200,000 of them have left the labour force since the recession began. The youth participation rate has tumbled to a 16-month low and is approaching 1995 levels.

“This is a really significant issue,” said Francis Fong, an economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank who wrote a paper this week predicting the youth jobs market will remain tough for years to come.

That’s in part because older workers are staying on the job. Many are delaying retirement – for both voluntary and involuntary reasons – which means fewer new jobs are opening up. Of those that do, young people must now compete with more experienced workers.

“This generation of younger workers are our future labour force … and they are facing some pretty unique pressures that other generations didn’t have to go through,” Mr. Fong said.

He said the economic consequences will include muted consumer spending among the young, heavy debt loads and delayed home buying.

Among the university crowd, the mood is one of a deep sense of frustration, said Sara Taddio, a musician who is studying public relations at McGill University. She said her job applications have gone unacknowledged.

“I’m 22, I have the technical tools and enough drive and ambition – I just want to get my life started,” she said, adding that most employers are opting for more-experienced candidates.

Canada’s economy shed 2,800 jobs in February, the second month in a row of little change. The public sector dropped 13,400 positions, and is expected to fall further this year. Private-sector employment slipped by 1,700, while self-employment – often seen as lower-paying positions – rose by 12,300.

It wasn’t just young people who left the work force; other demographic groups exited the labour market as well. Canada’s participation rate fell to 66.5 per cent last month, the lowest since April, 2002.

The slide “is a sign of serious disengagement from the formal economy,” said Jim Stanford, economist at the Canadian Auto Workers.

Statscan’s broadest measure of unemployment is the so-called R8, which includes discouraged workers and those working part-time who would rather have a full-time job; that measure stood at is 11.4 per cent in February, a slight improvement from 11.7 per cent a year earlier.

The federal budget on March 29 is expected to show cost cutting and possible public-service layoffs as part of its plan to trim the deficit.

Job creation remains a focus, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters in Toronto on Friday. “We will not keep our eye off the ball and there will be a lot of measures in the budget to create jobs and to get us on a long-term, sustainable track.”

That may not be easy. Private sector employers may rethink their hiring spree of the first half of 2011, and instead focus on boosting productivity, while public sector employment – a key source of growth in recent years – will decline outright, predicts Scotia Capital economist Derek Holt.

The pace of job creation this year will be half the rate of 2011, at 11,000 jobs or less a month, he believes.

With files from reporter Kelly Grant in Toronto.

Why can’t I get Canadian companies to take my U.S. experience seriously?

EILEEN CHADNICK

Globe and Mail Update

The question

I was relocated to Canada from the U.S. by the consultant firm I worked for. The project fell through and I was out of a job but I decided to stay in Canada (Toronto) to look for a new job at a Canadian bank. Even after I had obtained permanent residency status I was told I would have to take “several steps down the corporate ladder” because I had little Canadian experience. I had 10 years of banking experience in the U.S. and an MBA. I’ve sat in the HR offices of some of the Big Five banks and I am led to wonder how can someone get past that view that experience outside of Canada isn’t relevant here? How can you convince a corporation to look at you seriously even though your lengthy experience isn’t from Canada? Can you get past that or do you have to accept that you have to start near the bottom again?

The answer

I hear your frustration and I am sure you have a lot of worthy skills and experience from your lengthy experience in the U.S. However, while an MBA and 10 years of experience is impressive, what will matter most is what you achieved, learned, and contributed within that experience and how that is relevant to the Canadian market.

Keep in mind, there is nothing generic about banking. One size doesn’t fit all. The finance sector is a vast industry. For instance, a career in banking might encompass roles within retail banking, lending, investment management, tax and estate planning, wealth management, private banking, global banking, merchant banking, card services – and so much more. Deep experience in one area may or may not be transferrable to another area. As well, in any of these areas the Canadian market can differ greatly from the U.S from a regulatory, business, operations and marketing perspective.

To be taken seriously, your “pitch” (résumé, interviews) has to immediately convey that you have enough of the relevant experience and leadership attributes to be considered for a senior role. If the 10-year U.S. experience isn’t enough to break through to employers, what would a more compelling narrative look like? I encourage you rethink your approach (your résumé and profile; and to whom and how are pitching your candidacy). Your pitch may need to be more focused and tailored to the opportunities you are seeking.

Here are some questions to ask yourself that will help you reflect and further refine your job search with more focus.

• Sectors: What sectors within the banking and finance industry do I bring the most experience and how closely aligned is my experience with the Canadian market? What would I need to do and learn to close that gap if I want to work in any particular finance sector in the Canadian market?

• Roles: What kinds of roles best suit my strengths, aspirations, experience? Am I qualified to pursue a banking career that involves responsibility in marketing, operations, sales, project management or other areas?

• Strengths: When I consider my accomplishments and my “best moments” in my career, what are the strengths and attributes that really showed up? How can I tailor my search to find roles and environments that best match my strengths, and to what extent am I communicating these strengths and traits in my résumé and interview conversations?

• Values and approach: What values inform my preferred approach at work? Am I known to be a collaborator? Relationship builder? Innovator? People developer? Or do I prefer to fly solo? In what environments do I most thrive – entrepreneurial or corporate?

• Expand the search: Where else can I explore career opportunities beyond the banks? While the banks are an excellent avenue to explore – what other organizations may offer appropriate career opportunities? Explore alternatives such as credit unions, financial planning firms, investment companies, and mutual fund companies. Depending on your skills and interest, you may even think out of the box and consider service agencies to the financial sector, such as marketing or consulting firms.

• Network: Who can I talk to within the industry to learn more? How can I ramp up my networking so that I can engage in conversations with the right people to learn more about the industry and potential opportunities?

• Flexibility: How badly do I need to ensure my first job in Canada is a senior level role? What value might there be in accepting a less senior role in an organization that fits with my aspirations and provides a foot in the door?

Put it all together and invest the effort: After engaging in the above reflections, you should be in a better position to refresh your résumé and present your value proposition more meaningfully.

There’s no way around it – job seeking calls for a lot of effort. Regardless of one’s experience, every job seeker must fine-tune their personal marketing; develop a meaningful networking plan; research and tailor their search to appropriate opportunities; think inside and outside the box; and hone interview skills.

Don’t give up. But do take yourself and the job search effort more seriously so that you can be taken more seriously as well.

Eileen Chadnick is a career coach and principal of Big Cheese Coaching in Toronto.

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Ottawa targets ‘high-value’ entrepreneurs with new immigration program

WALLACE IMMEN

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Ottawa plans to replace the immigrant entrepreneur program it shelved last year with a new system aimed at identifying and speeding the path for “high value innovators,” Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says.

The previous program, in place for a decade, “was administratively very burdensome and underwhelming in terms of the results.” When it was suspended last July, it had a backlog of nearly 10,000 applicants, and with an average of about 1,000 to 1,500 approvals a year it would have taken nearly eight years to clear, even without new applications. What will happen to the older files when the new program is launched remains unclear, Mr. Kenney said in an interview.

Potential immigrants with experience and the ability to set up a small business would still be encouraged to apply, he said. But the new program, which he hopes to officially announce by the end of the year – after consultations with industry groups – will encourage immigrants “who can do much more in terms of adding value to the economy than opening up a convenience store.”

“We want the next Bill Gates or the next Steve Jobs. We want those folks with the brilliant ideas that are going to generate sustainable jobs for a long time to come,” Mr. Kenney said. “We want to create a policy which is more likely to attract entrepreneurs in areas like technology, energy and environmental innovations. These areas have a lot more potential than just running a kiosk at the mall.”

The new program will be in addition to existing categories in provincial nominee programs, which take applications from potential entrepreneurs who want to live and set up a business in their provinces, and send them to Ottawa for fast tracking, Mr. Kenney said.

The provincial nominee programs had become an approach of choice for would-be immigrant entrepreneurs even before the federal application window was shut, said immigration consultant Deepak Kohli, of Transcend Consultants in Brampton, Ont.

For several years it had become clear that Ottawa was uncomfortable with the old program, Mr. Kohli explained. “The bar was always being raised. They were requiring more documentation and quite slow in responding. They wanted financial statements and then required audited statements and then reviews of statements by particular auditors.”

The provincial programs have been much faster, he said. “They required four to five months compared to five years or longer under the federal program.”

The new federal approach has merit, he said. “There's value in selecting business people who can create job incubators in Canada. The trick lies in making Canada attractive for these individuals, processing their applications quickly and providing the right environment for growth of ideas, including easy availability of research facilities and workers, so that they can hit the ground running.”

A change in the system that could result in greater success rates for small start-ups would be to encourage newcomers to work with an existing company before setting out on their own, said Sarah Wayland, an employment and settlement consultant in Hamilton, who wrote a study about immigrants who started businesses in Ontario.

“I’m pleased to hear there will be a new program, but I am a bit wary because my research has found that people need to be in Canada a while in order to identify with the culture and build a successful business,” she said. Of 65 immigrant business people she surveyed anonymously in a recent report for the Toronto-based Maytree Foundation, none had come in under the federal entrepreneur program. They immigrated under other categories and started businesses after getting established.

“There have been many failures under the entrepreneur class because they were expected to just come to Canada and immediately buy or open a business,” she said. “The research shows that people who tend to succeed the best had been here a while getting ‘Canadian experience’ and often finding a mentor in their field before starting their business.

“They use the time to improve their language skills, learn Canadian ways of doing business and develop a network, so that when they do start their business they are more sure of themselves and are offering something that people will want.”

Restaurants, corner stores and franchises were the most common types of businesses created by immigrants under the old Entrepreneur Program, which required that applicants have previous experience, a net worth of $300,000, and plans to open and manage a business that would create at least one other full-time job.

“That’s not to diminish that kind of business, there is value in any kind of business activity,” Mr. Kenney said. “But quite frankly, we’d like to be focusing our attention on attracting bright entrepreneurs who have been capitalized to create companies in high-tech, value-added businesses that have potential to create hundreds of jobs over their lifetime rather than two or three.”

One idea the ministry is researching is a visa program in the United States that expedites immigration of foreign entrepreneurs who are backed by venture capital or investors, Mr. Kenney said.

“The market frankly is a much greater incentive in determining who can successfully integrate into the economy. If an angel investor or venture capital firm has backed and done their due diligence on some bright entrepreneur’s business plan and they’re actually supporting it with their dollars, it seems to me to be a reasonable basis for us to approve expedited residency in Canada.”

The long backlog of applicants was the result of a policy mistake when the current immigration act came into effect a decade ago, Mr. Kenney said. “It imposed on Canada an obligation to process to finalization every application it received in every program, which was crazy given that Canada will always have surplus of applications over our capacity to admit people. Over time, this surplus led to an unacceptably long wait time.”

In a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Ottawa Wednesday, Mr. Kenney made it clear the immigration backlog is system-wide, and he discussed the possibility of legislating away the total of more than one-million applications waiting to be assessed.

The government plans public consultations on the new approach to the entrepreneurship program in the coming months, starting with industry associations. “We want the market to play a greater role in selection, either through arranged job offers for skilled workers or Canadian investors backing foreign nationals for business ventures,” Mr. Kenney said. The government would also promote the program in a broad range of countries, according to the ministry, as the majority of immigrants under the former entrepreneur class came from just four places: China (and Hong Kong), Egypt, India and Korea.

Provincial immigrant nominee programs

WALLACE IMMEN

Immigration remains a federal responsibility, but agreements with Ottawa allow provinces to nominate candidates who want to invest and run a business for accelerated immigration. Here are the requirements for entrepreneurs applying under provincial nominee programs:

Alberta

No specific entrepreneur category, but the nominee program includes a self-employed farmer category, for those able to invest at least $500,000 in a farming operation.

British Columbia

Applicants must show that they can develop and actively manage a business that will provide significant economic benefits to the province. Excluded businesses include coin laundries, payday loan offices and home-based businesses.

Saskatchewan

Entrepreneur applicants must have at least three years of entrepreneurial or relevant business management experience and a verifiable minimum net worth of $300,000, and ability to invest at least $150,000. A $75,000 refundable deposit is required.

Manitoba

Applicants must have three years of successful experience in senior management, have a minimum net worth of $350,000, and the ability to invest at least $150,000. An exploratory visit for a week to Manitoba is required along with a $75,000 cash deposit to guarantee establishment of a business in the province.

Ontario

A business investment component of Opportunities Ontario’s nominee program requires a minimum $3-million to invest in a new or existing business, and business ownership or management experience. Applicants must have a comprehensive business plan that creates at least five permanent full-time jobs and be actively involved in the day-to-day management of the business.

New Brunswick

Applicant must demonstrate business ownership or senior management experience, have good knowledge of English and/or French, a minimum net worth of $300,000, and have a minimum of $125,000 to invest in a new business. A five-day exploratory visit is required before applying, and a comprehensive business proposal and deposit of $75,000 is required if approved.

Newfoundland and Labrador

Applicant must have a minimum of five years of senior management or entrepreneurial experience and a minimum net worth of $450,000, of which at least $350,000 should be in liquid assets. A Performance Agreement must be signed, promising a minimum business investment of $200,000 in a new or existing business. An exploratory visit to the province, a business plan and a deposit of $100,000 is required.

Nova Scotia

No specific entrepreneur immigration category. A provincial program provides loans to help immigrants start businesses after they immigrate.

Quebec

Applicants must prove they have a net worth of $300,000, and a minimum of two years recent experience running a business on a day-to-day basis. They must have a working knowledge of French and create a business or partnership in Quebec with an equity of at least $100,000, which employs a Quebec resident who is not a family member.

Prince Edward Island

The island’s immigrant entrepreneur nominee program has been temporarily suspended because of a federal investigation. The program required immigrants to have a minimum net worth of $400,000, and be prepared to make a minimum business investment of $200,000 to establish a new enterprise. A complete business plan and a refundable deposit of $100,000 are to be submitted along with the application.

Yukon

Applicants must have a minimum net worth of $250,000, with a minimum of $150,000 to invest in a new business or an existing one, leading to equity ownership of at least one-third of the business. The applicant will manage day to day. Applicants must make an exploratory trip to Yukon to meet with officials and demonstrate reasonable skills in one of Canada’s official languages and show a minimum of five years of senior management or entrepreneurial experience.