TalentLift Canada, Toronto, ON (2026)

05/13/2026

🍁 Welcome to Canada, Melvin!

Melvin is a talented Industrial Maintenance Technician who specializes in risk prevention. He will be joining the wonderful team at IKO North America. Melvin is originally from Venezuela and was living displaced in Peru before relocating to work in Canada alongside his family.

We're so happy to have you and your family safely arrive 😊

Thank you to our partners at IKO North America, Scotiabank, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, HIAS, UNHCR Canada, Windmill Microlending, and IOM - UN Migration for making these journeys possible.

🔧If you or someone you know is looking for experienced trades professionals, get in touch with us today to have a call and learn how to recruit and relocate talented new colleagues from displacement: https://www.talentlift.ca/employers

05/11/2026

🍁 Some job seekers who had their education or early career interrupted as a result of refugee circumstances have little formal work experience. The job search process can be particularly discouraging for them, with many job postings requiring potential applicants to have at least a few years of professional experience under their belts.

If this is a challenge that you’re currently facing – whether it’s because you’re a recent graduate, changing careers, or entering the workforce for the first time – know that you’re not alone. Many job seekers find themselves in this position and, while it can be frustrating, the truth is that experience is important, but employers also hire for potential. In this post, we cover how to highlight the skills you’ve gained in other ways, how to stand out where you apply, and how to continue building your network and knowledge.

We are so glad to support youth job seekers living as refugees as they navigate their career journey, through a generous grant from the KPMG Foundation.

Part of the support this grant unlocks is a career mentorship workshop for displaced youth job seekers. At a recent session, we welcomed Gloria Oluwadiya, a Human Resources professional with KPMG Canada, as a guest speaker to share her expertise on job searching in the Canadian context. Gloria shares tips on how to reframe your experience, highlight your skills, and strengthen your application.

We invite all job seekers to check out Gloria's insights in our latest blog: https://www.talentlift.ca/how-can-i-break-into-the-job-market

✨ We invite job seekers living in refugee circumstances anywhere to register your skills and talents with us, and advance your career readiness: https://platform.talentlift.ca/

✨ If you’re hiring, meet exceptional talent ready for opportunities in Canada by connecting with our team: https://www.talentlift.ca/employers

05/08/2026

🍁 Welcome to Canada, Abeer!

💫 Abeer is a scholar in wireless communications and network engineering. She relocated to work as a Visiting Professor with Carleton University’s Department of Systems and Computer Engineering after journeying from Somalia and Sudan, with the support of Professor Thomas Kunz, Scholars at Risk Carleton, and the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund.

We're so happy to have you and your family safely arrive 😊

"Hiring a scholar from displacement is not merely an act of compassion, it is a strategic investment in academic excellence, human dignity, and global responsibility," Abeer writes.

"At a time when academic freedom is under threat globally, supporting displaced scholars sends a strong message: Your university stands for truth, knowledge, and justice. Hiring them is an act of solidarity with persecuted academics and a defense of free thought and open dialogue."

Read Abeer’s blog on the imperative for universities to seek out scholars at risk: https://www.talentlift.ca/why-universities-should-hire-displaced-scholars

We're grateful to our CU and SRF colleagues, and our partners at Scotiabank, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, UNHCR Canada, Windmill Microlending, and IOM - UN Migration, for making these journeys possible.

💫 Talented scholars like Abeer can help campuses and research teams grow and thrive across Canada. Our talent platform has over 42,000 candidates living in refugee circumstances, many with advanced degrees in STEM and beyond. Connect with our team to learn more: https://www.talentlift.ca/employers

05/05/2026

Canada has many economic immigration pathways, but navigating them is not straightforward.

At TalentLift, through our work connecting displaced talent with Canadian employers, we see firsthand how complex Canada’s immigration system can be, especially for those navigating it from refugee circumstances. While many pathways exist, accessing them in practice can be significantly more difficult than it appears.

💫 That's why we built the TalentLift Pathways Portal: An accessible public resource designed to help people explore economic immigration pathways to Canada. While the portal is open to anyone, it is built through a lens that recognizes the additional barriers faced by displaced individuals.

Our goal is to support families in particular to navigate economic immigration pathways as an important option for family reunification, with an initial focus on families living in Ontario and pathways to the Province of Ontario. Too many have had to rely on limited humanitarian resettlement programs to reunite with their parents, siblings, and other family, creating a gap in access to family reunification for people who have family members still living in insecure refugee situations outside Canada.

This project is generously funded by The Law Foundation of Ontario, supporting our shared commitment to advancing access to justice. Read more about the TalentLift Pathways Portal here: https://www.talentlift.ca/introducing-a-new-way-for-families-to-navigate-economic-immigration-pathways

✨ We invite anyone seeking to reunite with family members still in displacement to explore the TalentLift Pathways Portal, as a step towards better understanding economic stream options: https://www.talentlift.ca/pathways-portal

04/30/2026

Alexa trained as a pharmacist in Venezuela. “I had a stable personal and professional life,” she said. “I had a clear sense of who I was and what I knew how to do.”

When Venezuela became too insecure to stay, Alexa moved to Peru, where she lived for almost seven years. She worked her way up from a cashier job in a pharmacy to a more knowledge-based role. She calls that time a period of “relearning” even as she faced barrier after barrier trying to get her pharmacy license again.

“My dreams now are closely connected to reclaiming my professional identity,” she said.

There are many thousands of people living as refugees globally who aspire to the same goal. With nearly 43 million people living as refugees worldwide, and few options to earn a living and plan for the future, there is an urgent need to expand access to skills training and job opportunities.

TD is donating $275,000 over two years to support TalentLift's work connecting displaced job seekers with training and job opportunities in Canada. A key aspect supported by this funding is practical training and certification, so people can build in-demand skills. These opportunities can also accelerate pathways to a Canadian credential, expanding the pool of job-ready talent and connecting more people with employers in need of skills across Canada.

✨ Read more about Alexa's journey: https://www.talentlift.ca/td-bank-group-donates-to-support-talentlifts-work

✨ If you’re hiring, meet exceptional talent ready for opportunities in Canada by connecting with our team: https://www.talentlift.ca/employers

04/29/2026

🍁 Welcome to Canada, Yusuf!

Yusuf is a talented patient services professional who is originally from Syria. He'll be contributing his skills and experience with the wonderful Float Valley team in Markham, Ontario. Yusuf arrived in Canada after journeying from a refugee situation in Türkiye.

We're so happy to have you safely arrive, and we're grateful that you chose Canada as your new home.

💫 Employers looking for in-demand skills can partner with TalentLift to find talent, and make a remarkable impact with their hiring. Extending a job opportunity to someone living in a refugee situation offers a pathway out of displacement, enabling them to join your team and a safe new community. Learn more or get started here: https://www.talentlift.ca/employer-hire

We're grateful to our hiring partners for making these journeys possible, alongside the awesome teams at Scotiabank, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, UNHCR Canada, Windmill Microlending, and IOM - UN Migration.

04/23/2026

🍁 Welcome to Canada, Abdifatah!

🩺 Abdifatah is a talented Nurse who joins the wonderful team at NL Health Services in Newfoundland and Labrador. He arrived after journeying from Ethiopia, where he was living as a refugee.

We're so happy to have you safely arrive 😊

We are grateful to our hiring partners at NL Health Services for enriching the provincial healthcare sector with talented individuals in refugee situations, who are in need of opportunities to continue their careers and contribute their skills in safety; and to our colleagues at the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Ethiopia who help us connect and support this remarkable talent pool.

Thank you to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador's Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Scotiabank, UNHCR Canada, Windmill Microlending, and IOM - UN Migration for everything you do to open job and relocation opportunities to talented folks in displacement.

💫 Is your team looking for talented healthcare professionals like Abdifatah? Discover talent living in refugee situations, keen to put their skills to use in a safe new home. Get in touch to find out more: https://www.talentlift.ca/employers

04/21/2026

💫 When a talented individual moves from displacement into a job and community in Canada, the impact is immediate and life-changing.

Newcomers supported by TalentLift leave refugee situations and arrive for skills-appropriate work, with salaries at or above the median wage, with access to healthcare and school for their kids, and a pathway to permanent residence and citizenship. They make enormous contributions to the teams that welcome them, bringing in-demand skills and experience, plus adaptability, creativity, and a deep commitment to their new teams and communities.

A job opportunity "made it possible for me to relocate to Canada," shared Aden, a Nurse originally from Somalia providing care in the Collingwood area. "Today, I have not only financial stability but also a community of diverse and wonderful friends.”

If you have the means, please consider TalentLift in your giving: Each donation directly powers our work to open up access to job and skilled visa opportunities for talented folks like Aden who are living in refugee situations globally, so they can lift to their potential, contribute their skills, and thrive.

To date:
- Our team has supported 1,474 talented candidates living as refugees to obtain jobs and pursue skills visas to Canada.
- This means 2,935 people can access a solution to displacement, when accounting for family.
- Unlocking these opportunities are 314 welcoming workplaces that include displaced talent within their hiring strategies, as an impact-driven solution to skills shortages.

Core to TalentLift's mission is removing the barriers that have historically kept displaced talent locked out of job and relocation opportunities, because of their refugee circumstances that have nothing to do with skills or potential. Many barriers are systemic and often they are financial. Donations fund the direct costs of accessing jobs and skilled visas for individuals. And, donations go to powering the TalentLift team, which operates across the talent search, immigration, and settlement stages of each candidate's journey.

💛 We welcome donations of all sizes, because every donation makes an impact: https://www.talentlift.ca/

04/16/2026

🍁 Welcome to Canada, Gabriel!

Gabriel is a talented trades professional who joins the wonderful team at IKO North America as a Plant Machine Operator. Gabriel is originally from Venezuela and was living displaced in Peru before relocating to work in Canada alongside his family.

We're grateful to work with leading teams like IKO North America, who are opening doors to talented folks with the skills our communities need, while supporting their new colleagues to relocate from refugee situations 💫

Thank you to our partners at Scotiabank, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, HIAS, UNHCR Canada, Windmill Microlending, IOM - UN Migration, and other community partners for making these journeys possible.

💫 41,000+ candidates have registered their skills on our talent platform. They are talented, ambitious, and living in refugee situations worldwide. They are welders, butchers, technicians, engineers, nurses, managers, and more. Meet some remarkable individuals who are keen to join your team and leave displacement behind: https://www.talentlift.ca/employers

04/14/2026

“When the Taliban regained control, everything changed,” said Arzoo, a healthcare professional from Afghanistan who now lives in Canada. “Safety became the biggest concern, not just for me, but for my family as well. The fear of being targeted and the loss of basic freedoms made it clear that staying was no longer an option.”

Arzoo worked in hairstyling and esthetics before training to be a Personal Support Worker, an important step to landing a role with an Ontario-based non-profit healthcare provider. She did all this in displacement because her home country was suddenly somewhere she didn’t have a future.

Some 5.2 million people are still displaced outside Afghanistan’s borders after leaving to find a safer place for themselves and their families. Almost five years later, the displaced population from Afghanistan remains one of the largest globally, with Iran and Pakistan hosting the largest Afghan communities. Safety here has been fleeting. There is ongoing threat of arrest and deportation as policies change and make it harder for displaced people to stay. And, new wars have started, which deepen disparities for those in limbo.

An important response alongside humanitarian measures is opening opportunities for people in these situations to use their skills, to continue their careers and provide for their families in safety.

In recent years, as Canadian skilled visas became more inclusive, TalentLift and our partners like FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance and the Hazara Hope and Empowerment Association worked with employers across Canada facing skills shortages to welcome talented individuals displaced from Afghanistan to their teams. Since 2021, we and our partners have supported 1,194 individuals, including 460 women and 732 men, to obtain jobs and pursue skilled visas to Canada. That’s more than 2,360 people, with accompanying family, who can access a solution to their displacement. Driving these transformative opportunities are more than 240 Canadian workplaces, from healthcare to hospitality to trades teams, that opened their doors to displaced talent from Afghanistan.

Learn more about some of these remarkable individuals, who are contributing essential skills across the country:
https://www.talentlift.ca/more-than-2360-afghans-have-a-skills-based-solution

💫 We invite anyone with an open role to get in touch with our team: https://www.talentlift.ca/employers

You can get started meeting talented people from Afghanistan and beyond with the skills you need, and open a life-changing relocation opportunity.

04/09/2026

We are united with people worldwide who are horrified by the death and injury inflicted on people in Iran and Lebanon and surrounding areas. Too many families are grieving and forever changed. Too many families face a deepening humanitarian emergency.

In the last month, thousands have been killed, many children among them, and an estimated 1.2 million people are displaced in Lebanon and more than 3 million in Iran. There is an urgent need for humanitarian support.

Many of the candidates we support, our team members and our partners have loved ones in Iran, Lebanon and surrounding areas. We’re thinking of them and all the people affected by this war.

If you have the resources to donate to humanitarian aid efforts, here are a few options to consider: https://www.talentlift.ca/ways-to-support-people-affected-by-war-in-iran-and-lebanon

TalentLift is ready to assist Canadian hiring teams to find and relocate new colleagues living as refugees in Lebanon. Many thousands have registered their skills with TalentLift and our partners, from tradespeople to engineers to healthcare professionals.

If you’re an employer in Canada and want to find talented candidates from the talent pool of job seekers from refugee backgrounds in Lebanon who are ready to relocate, we invite you to get started: https://www.talentlift.ca/engage/start-hiring/

It remains very difficult to hire someone in displacement from Iran. TalentLift is supporting an initial cohort of talented individuals from Afghanistan displaced in Iran to join teams in Canada, however, there remain systemic barriers that Canada hasn’t yet solved like no approved venue for biometrics collection while diplomatic ties are cut. We continue our advocacy to unblock these barriers and hope that one day, those seeking safety in Iran can access the same job and relocation opportunities as talent from any other background.

TalentLift Canada

05/13/2026

05/11/2026

05/08/2026

05/05/2026

04/30/2026

04/29/2026

04/23/2026

04/21/2026

04/16/2026

04/14/2026

04/09/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category