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Building Capacity in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to Hire Immigrants

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Project Lead

Wendy Cukier

Team Members

Mohamed Elmi, Tony Fang, Rupa Banerjee

In recent years, there has been a surge of highly qualified and skilled immigrants moving to Canada, yet research suggests that the Canadian workforce may not always be equipped to hiring new immigrants, this is especially true for small and medium enterprises.

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Objective 

Understanding the gap between existing immigrant integration services and the needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in hiring and retaining newcomers, this action research project aims to not only analyse the barriers to hiring newcomers and strategies for eroding these barriers but also to develop tools and training to support SMEs in improving their practices.

This project will develop a framework, tools and techniques to better support SMEs in hiring and retaining newcomers by addressing leadership and strategy, human resources and culture as well as the value chain or business processes, and community partnerships.

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Research question(s)

  1. What are the barriers faced by SMEs in hiring and retaining newcomers?
  2. How can SMEs build their capacity to support and hire newcomers?
  3. What are models and best practices to support SMEs in hiring newcomers?
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Methodology

This research will use a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative). Qualitative data will be collected through semi-structured interviews, and quantitative data will be collected through surveys. The interview and survey questions will be informed by frameworks for advancing equity, diversity and inclusion strategies tailored to the context of SMEs and the needs of diverse newcomers. Quantitative data will showcase and assess the capacities of SMEs in hiring and retaining newcomers. Based on the findings, the recommendations and best practices section will be presented.

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Status

The project is currently in progress.

Expected completion date: September 2026

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Outcomes

Past events and conferences: 

  • “Panel: Changing perceptions, building capacity”, presented by Wendy Cukier, National Workforce Strategic Plan (NWSP) Summit, June 2, 2025
  • “AI, remote work, and productivity: An international conference”, welcome note and chairmanship by Tony Fang and Wendy Cukier, St. John’s, Canada, May 8–9, 2025
  • “Best practices for employers to hire immigrants”, presented by Wendy Cukier, Tony Fang, and Guoxiang Mo, 27th Metropolis Conference, Toronto, Canada, March 14, 2025
  • "Mental healthcare service barriers for immigrants in Canada”, presented by Ariadna Pauliuc, Global Conference on Migration and Health Equity, Sydney, Australia, January 30–31, 2025
  • “Building capacity in SMEs to hire immigrants”, presented by Wendy Cukier, Katlynn Sverko, and Tania Saba, Cannexus 2025, Ottawa, Canada, January 27–29, 2025
  • “EDI and anti-racism struggles in the post-George Floyd era: Transformative strategies for sustainable culture shift”, keynote presentation by  W. Cukier, Canada Leadership Summit and Nation Builders Award 2024, hosted by the Canadian Congress on Inclusive Diversity and Workplace Equity, October 5, 2024
  • “Digital skills training – Supporting underrepresented groups”, panel participation by W. Cukier, Skills for Success (SFS) Annual Forum, September 19, 2024
  • “Pathways to employment: Career mobility and upskilling for newcomers and immigrants”, presented by W. Cukier, Leveraging Newcomer Talent to Empower Canada’s Workforce, Toronto, Canada, August 22, 2024
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Keywords

Small and medium enterprises; migrant employment; hiring; equity, diversity, and inclusion; employment integration