Calgary – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) conducted two training sessions this week with labour recruiters in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The trainings, which took place in Saskatoon on 10-11 December and in Calgary on 12-13 December, represent the next step in implementation of the IRIS pilot project currently taking place between the Philippines and Canada.

The International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS) is a global social compliance scheme designed to promote ethical international recruitment. It works by defining and setting a benchmark for ethical recruitment (the IRIS Standard) and by establishing a voluntary certification scheme for recruiters. IRIS is a multi-stakeholder initiative of IOM and was created in response to growing demand from the private sector and governments for ethical recruitment services.

The pilot project between the Philippines and Canada will run for three years; it aims to connect and build the capacity of ethical recruiters on both sides of the migration corridor. IOM conducted similar training sessions for recruiters in the Philippines earlier in 2018.

"Our job is to enable a local environment for ethical recruitment and to connect the interested and likeminded stakeholders to the benefit of migrant workers, recruiters and employers," said Pawel Szalus, IRIS Programme Manager.

Currently, there are about 150 million migrant workers globally. The Commission on Filipinos Overseas estimates that there are over 700,000 permanent and temporary Filipinos currently living in Canada.