Amy Pope, Director General, IOM, speaks at a roundtable discussion on economic immigration, co-hosted by Senator Ratna Omdivar and Dr. Marshia Akbar at the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration, Toronto Metropolitan University.

A growing number of people have to leave the country where they were born because it’s not safe. The reason could be war, or it could be because political and other rights aren’t guaranteed. In too many places, you can be targeted because of your opinions, your pacifism, or who you love.

There are now more than 117 million people in this situation globally. That’s one in every 69 people in our world. Conflict in Sudan, Myanmar and Palestine are some of the places where the largest number of people have had to leave home.

At a recent roundtable in Toronto, Amy Pope, the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), shared a few truths about those making difficult and often dangerous journeys to safety.

In addition to being safe, “people just want a job,” she said. When someone has crossed a border, alone or with their family, they want to live in a dignified way: Work. Contribute. Feel valued. Live in safety. Live decently.

This isn’t an option in most countries where people arrive after leaving home. People in displacement often don’t have work rights, or have just limited access to certain types of work, and typically face discrimination and exploitation like lower pay than their national counterparts.

The bottom line is that we need more opportunities open to people living displaced. We need more countries like Canada making job-backed immigration pathways (among others) a lot more accessible.

What does Canada get right?

Pope emphasized that Canada is an important leader in open, well-managed migration, influencing and encouraging other governments towards a rising standard. The pioneering Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) is one example.

She’s right. The EMPP is a critical route for those in displacement to use their skills to get to a secure future. And it enables Canadian hiring teams to do something deeply impactful while gaining a talented new team member.

Imagine a world where all countries had similarly open economic routes aiming to include and attract those in displacement with skills to contribute, from kitchen attendants to mechanics to physicians. For starters, people would have more immigration options, not less, when they cross a border for safety, because they would still be seen as workers, students, and family members – and have humanitarian options available too. They wouldn’t see their skills atrophy. They could find a solution in months instead of years and years.

What can Canada improve?

Canada can always do better. Below are a few important ways to continue building a globally-leading, inclusive economic stream.

Faster processing times: The success of a job-backed immigration program relies on the visa working for employers. Canada’s current processing timeline for the EMPP, six months, doesn’t work for all employers. Long timelines also add significant stress and other hardship on candidates and their families who are in insecure situations but who are often unable to make major changes or decisions while waiting for a visa approval. Some countries process work visas in mere weeks. Canada should explore a similarly fast standard across the economic stream.

Mainstream flexibility: We continue recommending that Canada improve access to temporary work permits for applicants in displacement, so they can leverage the country’s fastest routes to work and secure livelihoods, such as Global Talent Stream work permits. Canada can start by extending the areas of flexibility that already exist under the EMPP (i.e. alternative ID in lieu of valid passports) to Canada’s other economic stream programs, permanent and temporary.

Refresh temporary pathways: “Temporary programs are a good thing, if they’re humane,” Pope said. Canada can make our temporary pathways work better for everyone, including displaced applicants, with two important changes: The addition of family accompaniment for all temporary pathways (the ability to bring family is currently restricted for entry-level workers, or those with occupations at TEER 4-5); and greater availability of permanent pathways for those with jobs and experience in all skill levels from TEER 0-5. In other words, anyone invited to work in this country should be able to bring their family, and have a pathway to permanence if they wish to pursue it.

Check out other recent recommendations.

The power of skills-based pathways

By creating the best blueprint for an open, inclusive economic stream, Canada can do powerful things for the women, men and kids who access these opportunities, but also for those who learn about the possibility.

We know there’s a skills lift effect when people in displacement know that their human capital, including their English or French skills, can be the pathway to leave a refugee situation. And, we know that people are less likely to take unsafe migration journeys, for example across the Mediterranean or the Darién Gap, if they know there’s another accessible option for them.

Canada has already built an incredible program in the EMPP that all hiring teams across the country should be using. It’s an awesome foundation towards an economic stream that fully recognizes and lifts up human potential in displacement – and towards that world where an increasing number of countries are watching and doing the same.

Candidates living in refugee circumstances and seeking a job in Canada can join TalentLift. Employers seeking global talent while engaging their team in something transformative can start hiring.

Ways to recognize human potential, a discussion with Amy Pope, Director General of the IOM