Foreign direct investment creates job opportunities across the country, not just in big cities. Take U.S. medical technology company Sekisui Diagnostics, which is headquartered in Prince Edward Island and has grown its workforce by 33 per cent since 2011.©2022 F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd - All rights reserved.
For decades, Canadian employers and government leaders have grappled with ‘brain drain,’ a term used to describe talent leaving the country for higher wages or better opportunities.
The phrase took on a new meaning during the pandemic, when remote work made it easier for people to leave the economy without leaving the country, especially those with a background in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). These workers are in high demand, especially in sectors working on finding solutions to climate change. But Canadian companies have a powerful (if under-the-radar) tool to keep skilled workers: foreign direct investment (FDI).
When foreign companies invest in local businesses or they set up shop within our borders, they’re not just benefitting the Canadian economy and encouraging innovation, they’re helping retain talented workers. According to Statistics Canada numbers, more than 80 per cent of STEM graduates choose to stay in Canada to work after graduation.
Now, some of the global firms making those hires—such as Siemens, A Thinking Ape and Toyota—are sharing why Canadian talent is so valuable.
Siemens Canada values diverse perspectives of new grads
Siemens Canada has hired more than 150 students in various STEM fields since 2015, according to Faisal Kazi, president and CEO of Siemens. These students came from institutions across Canada, including McMaster University, Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Alberta, Mohawk College, Ontario Tech University, Humber College, the University of Waterloo, and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Since 2015, Siemens Canada has hired more than 150 students from post-secondary institutions across the country.iStockPhoto / Getty Images
Canadian institutions equip STEM students with “a good foundation of problem solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity, (and) well-developed skills on teamwork and adaptability,” Kazi explains. This makes them well-suited to understanding interdependent systems and their related ecosystems, as well as innovating on them — such as making them more sustainable.
“In addition, Canada’s talent is diverse and is an aggregation of world views enabled through the eyes of multi-generational Canadians, first-generation Canadians, immigrants and First Nations people,” he adds. “All these perspectives and life experiences are highly valued at Siemens.”
The company is so dedicated to hiring Canadian talent that when the pandemic disrupted the ability of new graduates to find work, Siemens launched a career program called Experience@Siemens to provide them with up to a year of work experience, business exposure and mentorship.
Access to a wider pool of talent helps A Thinking Ape level up
Kenshi Arasaki, CEO of video-game company A Thinking Ape, echoes Kazi’s point about FDI enabling companies to hire — and benefit from — a well-educated and diverse pool of talent. In 2020, Sweden-based Embracer Group acquired A Thinking Ape and invested $132-million in the company. This investment not only created 90 new jobs in Vancouver, where A Thinking Ape is based, it also helps take its projects to the next level, since Arasaki and his team now have access to a wider network of talent within Embracer, who have expertise in many fields.
“When you have gaming, you have to have many disciplines come together, you need design, engineering and creative art to come together in meaningful ways to produce something that might become a cultural artifact — and that’s really hard. To do hard things, you need really great people,” Arasaki explains. “Being acquired has enabled us now to have access to hundreds of peers in the gaming group who have knowledge and expertise worldwide that we can tap into to increase our rate of learning.”
Toyota’s partnership with the University of Waterloo is a pipeline to full-time work
Toyota employs 8,500 workers across its facilities in Cambridge and Woodstock, Ont. Through its partnership with the University of Waterloo, Toyota also hires many of the school’s undergraduate students for co-op placements and its graduate students for full-time positions, according to Ross McKenzie, managing director of the university’s Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research.
“That [partnership] forms an excellent talent pipeline for us. [The students] get to learn about manufacturing and we get to understand their capability,” says Frank Voss, president of Toyota Canada. “They are a key part of our recruiting strategy when we’re looking for engineering and science backgrounds.”
In addition to its partnership with the University of Waterloo, Toyota also supports Actua, Canada’s largest STEM youth outreach network. Earlier this year, the Toyota Canada Foundation announced an additional investment of $1-million over four years to help Actua engage “more girls and young women, Indigenous and Black youth, and youth living with disabilities in STEM,” according to the foundation’s treasurer, Leslie Miller.
“It’s encouraging to see that companies are investing in Canada,” says Justina Mendoza, a senior manager at Toyota Canada who graduated from the University of Waterloo. “They’re seeing the talented workforce we have to offer in Canada.”
In turn, Canadians benefit from global companies’ expertise, helping to spur innovation and growth in some critical fields.
When foreign companies invest in local businesses or they set up shop within our borders, they’re not just benefitting the Canadian economy and encouraging innovation, they’re helping retain talented workers.
Recent grads don’t have to move to a big city to find good jobs
The job opportunities created by FDI aren’t limited to big cities. In 2021, Norway-based Elkem Metals built a biocarbon plant in Chicoutimi, Que., a $26-million investment in the region’s economy. The new plant will produce biocarbon briquettes, a renewable alternative to metallurgical coal, which is a necessary ingredient in steel- and iron-making, but also a major emitter of greenhouse gases.
The company’s presence in Chicoutimi has created 115 jobs. François Simard a research and development scientist, is one of the beneficiaries. “I rarely saw scientific and research and development positions in Chicoutimi,” says Simard, who works as a Research and Development Scientist. “This investment is essential for the pursuit of my career. It is what created my position and allows me to fulfill myself as a researcher.”
U.S. medical technology company Sekisui Diagnostics is headquartered in Prince Edward Island. “Canada as a whole has a diverse talent pool. Especially Prince Edward Island. We have a large bioscience sector here,” says Eugene Howatt, who works as Sekisui Diagnostics’ plant manager.
Howatt says the company’s workforce has increased 33 per cent since 2011. Sekisui doesn’t just attract local talent, it draws skilled workers “from an international level,” according to Joan Turner Adams, business development officer at Innovation PEI. This allows the company to remain competitive and it helps drive the island’s economy, she says.
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Invest in Canada. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.