Employee Retention and Settlement

The key to retaining international newcomers as employees and as New Brunswickers is to ensure their lifestyle and interests align with what the job and the province have to offer. Those who are aware of where New Brunswick is, or better yet, those who have researched or visited the province are much more likely to know if the province feels like it could become their home. If the newcomer has strong connections to the province, like family or friends that already live here, that can also make a big difference.

Skilled workers also want to know that their foreign qualifications will be recognized by the province and that their spouse’s skills are relevant to New Brunswick’s labour market.

In addition, there are certain factors that might make New Brunswick especially appealing to some, including:

• Living in smaller cities or communities.
• Proximity to nature and the outdoors.
• Affordable housing.
• Shorter commute times.
• Bilingualism

By asking some questions in and around these topics when interviewing candidates from outside of New Brunswick, it can help you identify candidates who will want to work in New Brunswick and who want to make the province their permanent home.

Welcoming Newcomers

There are professional organizations in New Brunswick to help meet the needs of newcomers, to connect them to services and programs, and to help them to integrate into the community. These services are offered by settlement agencies.

Settlement services may vary from one organization to the other, but typically include:

• Pre-arrival services.
• English/French language training.
• Arrangement of translation and/or interpretative services.
• Support completing forms and applications.
• Information on programs and services available for newcomers.

If your new employee has recently arrived in the country or the province, getting settled can be overwhelming. You can connect your employee with the settlement agency closest to your area.

Creating an Inclusive Workplace and Understanding Cultural Differences

With an increasingly multicultural workforce, when hiring newcomers, it is important that your organization is familiar with potential cultural differences. Cultural competency training is a great idea to equip managers and employees with the awareness, knowledge, and skills they need to overcome cultural challenges in the workplace. You can learn more about culture competency training here.

Integrating and Training Newcomers

Supporting your international newcomers with training, mentorship, and career development opportunities increases productivity, helps them adapt to new technologies more quickly, aids in employee retention, and helps maintain the employee’s accreditation or licenses. This training can come through courses or through peer-to-peer training right in the workplace. To help your employee, tell them what training you can offer them or direct them to places where the skills, language, cultural, or organizational training they may need is available. If your newcomers feel valued and supported, they are much more likely to stay with you long term.