Simultaneous Recruitment of Canadians/Permanent Residents and Non-Canadians

Updated October 7, 2022

Advertisements for academic positions at the University of Windsor must include the following language:

“All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians qnd permanent residents will be given priority.”

What does this mean?

• You may advertise for both Canadians and non-Canadians simultaneously.
• You may shortlist both Canadians and non-Canadians simultaneously.
• You may interview both Canadians and non-Canadians simultaneously.

When it comes to actually offering someone a position, however, “Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority” – which means that if a Canadian and a non-Canadian are approximately equal according to the committee’s hiring grid scores, then you must offer the Canadian the position.

If a non-Canadian is demonstrably the stronger candidate, then she or he may be offered the position. However, the hiring grid scores must reflect the gap between the superior non-Canadian and the other Canadian applicants. If the non-Canadian and the top Canadian are approximately equal (When the difference between two candidates' hiring grid scores is 8% or less of the total number of available points, the candidates are deemed to be approximately equal.) – the Canadian must be offered the position.

The rationale submitted to PCEE on Form 3 must also clearly justify, with sufficient supporting detail, why the non-Canadian is being offered the position.

When a non-Canadian is offered a position, the University must obtain a positive Labour Market Opinion from Service Canada before the prospective foreign worker may apply for a work permit. The Provost’s Office initiates an Application for a Labour Market Impact Assessment and fills out the “Foreign Academic Recruitment Summary,” in which we enter the name and citizenship of the “Foreign Worker (Successful Candidate)” and then list the “Top Three Canadian / Permanent Resident Applicants” and the reasons they were not offered the job.

Hiring of Persons in Under-Represented Designated Groups
In a related way, we have positive obligations when it comes to the five designated groups at the University of Windsor (Women, Aboriginal Peoples, Visible Minorities, Persons with Disabilities, and Members of Sexual Minorities).

(a) To be considered as a member of a certain designated group, a candidate must self-identify. The committee should not impose a designated group category on a candidate. If candidates do not self-identify in their initial application, they should be given an opportunity at some later point during the interview process to self-identify if they so choose.

(b) Where two candidates are deemed approximately equal, and one candidate is a non-Canadian from under-represented designated group member and the other is a Canadian non-designated group member, the Canadian candidate takes priority.
 
(c) The Review Committee on Employment Equity (RCEE) will be identifying under-represented designated groups in specific AAUs, to which the following policy must be applied by the appointments committee. The under-representation data for the AAU must be obtained each year from the Office of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility, as it may have changed from the year before.

When the difference between two candidates’ hiring grid scores is 8% or less of the total number of available points, the candidates are deemed to be approximately equal. In this event, the candidate who contributes to the employment equity hiring goals in one or more of the five designated groups must be recommended over the other candidate. For example, where the top-scoring candidate is not a member of an under-represented designated group and has scored 85 out of a possible 100 points, and the other candidate is a member of an under-represented designated group and has scored 79, the latter must be recommended over the former. The scoring difference here is only 6 percentage points, less than the 8% mandated in the University’s employment equity hiring goals.

Note: Candidates from under-represented designated groups do not receive extra points during the pre- and post-interview evaluation scoring. Whether an 8% spread exists is determined at the final stage of the search after the post-interview evaluation grid is completed.