Since 2019, Josiane Leblanc, president and founder of Agence Campi, has been filling a need in the Suroît region: meeting, welcoming and accompanying the immigrant workforce arriving in Canada to live a better life. Even if international recruitment is gaining in popularity with local companies, there's still work to be done, especially when it comes to mentoring these new workers, she observes. 

Even though she launched her company five years ago, Josiane Leblanc has always been interested in immigration. In the past, she spent six months in Honduras to complete an internship, as well as doing the same in Mexico. 

Having lived abroad herself, she has chosen to share her knowledge of best practices in intercultural hospitality with companies. Passionate about human relations, she stands out for her enthusiasm for bringing people together around her: she builds bridges between the individuals with whom she interacts by creating spaces for dialogue where it's possible to speak frankly. 

Her keen interest in people led her to pursue graduate studies in intercultural mediation. 

Providing a welcoming experience 

During the pandemic, she resigned from Cégep de Valleyfield to devote herself to a new project. “I bought a house to house foreign workers recruited by local companies. It was really a family project, since my parents helped me on a daily basis. Our aim was really to offer them a great welcoming experience so that they would want to come back with their families and settle here permanently. The first few weeks are crucial for the welcome; that's what I've experienced during my stays in other countries: if the first 2 weeks don't go well, they won't want to stay...and we lose good workers”, she shares from the outset. 

Ms. Leblanc has been immersed in the world of immigration for several years. “Even in my daily life, which I share with my husband, who has been in Quebec for 18 years. I experience interculturality within my marriage. On a professional level, through Agence CAMPI, I receive mandates from companies in the region who want to hire workers from outside the region. I not only take care of recruiting the candidates, but also of the entire process surrounding their arrival in their new environment. There are several stages to consider. Sometimes, companies don't realize this, or they don't have all the human resources to manage or take care of them. That's where we come in,” she adds. 

For a company wishing to hire labor from outside the company, the cost of thousands of dollars per person must be calculated. “You really have to be prepared to assume all the costs associated with bringing an outside employee into your company.These costs are linked to opening the immigration file, among other things.

In concrete terms, when Josiane Leblanc receives a mandate from a company, she takes charge of welcoming the immigrants. The process can take up to a year. She takes care of recruiting candidates from different countries, analyzing their needs and those of the employer, completing all legal documents and preparing the candidate. For their part, new arrivals pay nothing to go through these various stages. 

“Some of them don't believe it until they're in front of me. You have to reassure them. They even think, occasionally, that I'm recruiting for an escort or prostitution agency. My role is also to accompany them on their first day in the workplace. We make them understand that here, asking questions is well received. For most of them, doing so is synonymous with idiocy. But that's not the case in Quebec.  I also follow them for three, four or five months afterwards, to make sure that everything's going well and that problems don't arise. We draw up a life plan with the applicant to find out what he or she wants to do with their home,” she explains.   

Many challenges facing new arrivals 

Leaving family, loved ones and home behind to immigrate to a new country and take up a new job is a major challenge in itself. “We need to create a better welcoming experience within our companies and optimize productivity processes. Newcomers face many challenges, including language barriers, cultural differences and lack of support. It's important to provide them with the right support and training to help them settle into life in Quebec. For example, they need to understand our colorful expressions. It's vital that employers assume their responsibilities towards their foreign employees and understand their skills and experience. They're not just employees, they're people first and foremost. Employers already have a lot of responsibility, so I'm helping them to make the integration of foreign workers more effective.” 

Josiane Leblanc recently came to the aid of workers in Drummondville who had lost their jobs.  “I went to the site. In a situation like this, workers are stuck. Their work permit is closed, which means they can't offer their services elsewhere for two or three years. When they turn to front-line services like food banks, they get help. For example, a single basket of food for a month. Fortunately, we were able to relocate them in this case after establishing a plan. Others have returned home.”

Closer to home, four foreign workers were able to be hired at Plombco, a Salaberry-de-Valleyfield plant, after eight months out of work. “In that case, I happened to do some grocery shopping, paid for out of my own money, to help the four people. I couldn't do nothing,” she admits, estimating her investment at around $2,500 since the beginning of the year. 

One of Ms. Leblanc's hobbyhorses is also to destigmatize prejudice against immigrants in their new working environment. “Often, newcomers are seen as job-stealers or as taking the place of someone else from here. We have to disarm all that. At one of the companies I worked with, we realized that the person in charge of training new employees wasn't doing it very well. Why wasn't she? She was the only one who spoke Spanish, and she didn't want one of the new employees to take her place. As a result, she wasn't giving them all the right information about her job. You also have to address these situations when they arise. It's my role to do that, because often employers don't know how to act.” 

How can we improve the situation?

In closing, what does Ms. Leblanc think would be the best way to raise awareness among companies in the region, and in Quebec as a whole, about welcoming employees from elsewhere?

“We could set up a training program explaining their responsibilities. Ideally, the government should grant open permits to immigrant workers. That would allow them to change employers. In my opinion, this would be a good thing, because it would encourage entrepreneurs to set up good working conditions to keep their employees in the long term,” she concludes.  

She also points out in closing that employers are an important pillar for international candidates, and it's often through small improvements in internal processes that a positive employee experience can be created.