TalentLift

What TalentLift does

TalentLift is a Canadian non-profit international recruitment agency founded in 2021 and headquartered in Toronto, operating as a designated partner in the federal Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) alongside UNHCR and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The organization connects Canadian employers facing skills shortages with skilled refugees and displaced professionals sourced through a global network of UNHCR referrals and partner NGOs across the Middle East, East Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. Its candidate base exceeds 43,000 registered professionals spanning 175 countries and includes nurses, software developers, welders, technicians, engineers, and tradespeople.

The core product is the TalentLift Talent Platform (platform.talentlift.ca), a cloud-based web application that integrates candidate registration, profile management, job matching, CV editing, English-language training referrals, and immigration workflow support into a single end-to-end pipeline. Employers submit job descriptions and receive curated shortlists; the legal team then manages visa submission, travel, and transitional housing coordination, with reported visa processing times of 6 months or less and a 97% retention rate among placed candidates. Supporting technology integrations include Slack for candidate communication, Celonis for information orchestration, and standard Google Analytics and advertising tooling.

The revenue model is contribution-based rather than transactional: employers cover direct visa costs, make contributions to non-profit operations, and provide airport pick-up and at least three weeks of transitional housing; no fees are charged to candidates. Additional funding comes from grants, including a $50,000 award from the KPMG Foundation to develop career resources for youth refugees, and from a Scotiabank-anchored funding event recorded in late 2022. Distribution is dual-sided, with direct enterprise and SMB sales to Canadian employers globally and NGO/UNHCR referral channels sourcing candidates internationally.

Name

TalentLift

Legal name

TalentLift Canada

Website

https://talentlift.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

TalentLift is a Canadian non-profit recruitment agency that connects Canadian employers facing skills shortages with skilled refugee professionals sourced globally through UNHCR and partner NGOs, delivering end-to-end hiring, visa, and settlement services via its TalentLift Talent Platform under the EMPP program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Recruitment Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Immigrant & Refugee Workforce Integration Programs (EDAAAOAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Talent Acquisition (Recruiting) & Applicant Tracking (ATS) (BPACAPAD), Career Services & Job Placement Platforms (Jobs, Recruiting, Employer Networks) (EDAFAMAM), Workplace & Career Integration for Immigrants (Credentialing, Job Readiness) (EDAAADAE)

Keywords

• International recruitment services
• Refugee talent sourcing
• Workforce mobility solutions
• Nonprofit recruitment agency
• Immigration support services

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Employer Contributions: TalentLift operates as a non-profit organization. Employers are asked to cover direct visa costs, make a contribution to TalentLift's non-profit operations, and provide airport pick-up and transitional housing for at least 3 weeks on arrival. The organization does not charge candidates any fees for services.
2. Grant Funding: TalentLift receives grant funding from organizations such as the KPMG Foundation ($50,000 grant) to develop resources and programming for youth living as refugees.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

TalentLift is a non-profit international recruitment agency that connects Canadian employers with refugee and displaced talent through a digital talent platform with 43,000+ registered professionals from 175 countries. The agency provides talent sourcing, candidate matching, and immigration support as part of Canada's Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP), in partnership with UNHCR and IRCC. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Toronto, the agency helps employers access pre-vetted global talent while supporting newcomers' integration into the Canadian workforce.

Product overview

TalentLift operates as a single, unified non-profit recruitment platform rather than a modular product suite. The core offering is the TalentLift Talent Platform (a cloud-based web application) which integrates candidate registration, talent search and shortlisting, immigration and relocation services, CV editing tools, and English language training into one continuous workflow. Employers access the platform to source and hire skilled refugee talent; candidates use it to register, discover jobs, build CVs, and receive immigration support through to settlement. Supplementary content resources (blog posts with AI tool guidance, employer guides, job seeker journey maps) function as informational resources rather than distinct product modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• International Recruitment Service for Refugees
• Employer Talent Sourcing & Matching
• Immigration Pathway Advisory (EMPP)

Quantifiable outcome

• 97% retention rate for placed candidates
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTalentLift is a partner with UNHCR in supporting Canada's Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP). UNHCR refers refugee candidates to TalentLift's platform and supports candidates globally. This is a foundational partnership that enables access to the refugee talent pool worldwide.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTalentLift is among a select group of NGOs supporting the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) in partnership with IRCC. The EMPP is Canada's flagship program for refugee economic immigration, aiming to see increasing numbers of skilled workers relocate from refugee circumstances to Canada.
• Global Refugee-Serving NGOscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTalentLift partners with refugee-serving organizations globally including NGOs in the Middle East, East Africa, India, Latin America, and other regions. These partners work closely with candidates supported by TalentLift and help identify eligible talent for the program.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Welcome.US: Welcome.US is a US-led initiative coordinating private-sector and non-profit support for newly arrived Afghans and other refugees, including employer hiring pathways. Its refugee-to-employer mission and employer coalition model overlap with TalentLift's positioning, though it is geographically anchored in the US.
• Upwardly Global: Upwardly Global is a US-based non-profit that helps refugees and other immigrants with professional backgrounds reconnect to their careers. Its employer-facing refugee hiring services, job placement platform, and skills-training programs overlap directly with TalentLift's Canadian refugee-to-employer model.
• Tent Partnership for Refugees: Tent mobilizes the private sector to employ refugees through employer commitments, talent-matching, and research. It directly parallels TalentLift's mission-driven employer engagement, though Tent focuses on multinational employer commitments rather than running a candidate-to-job placement platform.
• Talent Beyond Boundaries: Talent Beyond Boundaries is the global pioneer in matching skilled refugees with international employment opportunities. It is the most direct competitor to TalentLift, operating the same refugee-to-employer placement model; TalentLift's co-founder Dana Wagner previously ran its Canada operations.

Emerging players

• HIAS: HIAS is a global Jewish refugee resettlement agency that has expanded into economic inclusion and employment services for refugees. While broader in mandate (resettlement, legal aid, integration), its employer engagement and refugee employment support intersect with TalentLift's core offering.
• RefugePoint: RefugePoint is a non-profit focused on refugee self-reliance and economic inclusion, including employment matching and skills training for displaced people. Its employment-oriented services for refugee populations overlap with TalentLift's job placement and skills-development work.

Broad incumbents

• International Rescue Committee (IRC): The IRC is a major international humanitarian organization with employment programs for refugees and displaced people across multiple geographies. It is a broad incumbent offering refugee hiring, resettlement, and economic inclusion services at much larger scale than TalentLift, and would be a potential partner or competitor.

Others

• Refugee Council USA: Refugee Council USA is a coalition of non-profits focused on US refugee protection and resettlement policy. It is an adjacent ecosystem player rather than a direct competitor, but it influences employer and government engagement models that parallel TalentLift's advocacy work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/talentlift-canada
• Xx.com/talentliftca

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TalentLift