Refugee labour mobility is a complementary pathway that helps displaced people access employment-based immigration pathways.
Gain safety, stability, and a future through meaningful employment and permanent protection.
Gain committed professionals to fill critical roles in sectors facing shortages.
Benefit from remittances and skills circulation that strengthen community resilience.
Jumpstart operates at the intersection of protection and labour market demands, expanding access to pathways without compromising rights or safeguards.
We support employers to scope roles, plan onboarding, and hire responsibly, including clear expectations on timelines and ethical recruitment.
We identify candidates through trusted partner networks, including refugee-led partners, UNHCR, and Talent Beyond Boundaries’ Talent Catalog, and support readiness so candidates can compete fairly.
We support the pathway from offer to arrival through coordinated documentation support, partner referrals, and post-settlement integration across sectors.
We contribute to evidence, operational learning, advocacy, and tools, including sustainable financing approaches that help pathways move beyond pilots.
We support capacity-building within refugee-led organizations so they can participate effectively across outreach, readiness, and accountability.
In collaboration with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and partners, Jumpstart contributed to the early development of the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP).
Today, as a Trusted Referral Partner of the Canadian Government, Jumpstart supports eligible applicants without standard refugee documentation and works with employers and partners like Talent Beyond Boundaries to expand access and scale EMPP across Canada.
“They have knowledge, they have skills, but these skills and knowledge are disabled. They can make a positive impact on communities. So why could we not use this power, the power of refugees?”
In 2019, Mohammed Hakmi became the first person to arrive in Canada through EMPP as a Software Engineer. That first successful placement helped demonstrate that refugee labour mobility could work in practice and at scale.
Jumpstart is a member of the Global Taskforce on Refugee Labour Mobility, bringing together governments, international organizations, business, civil society, and refugee representatives to advance labour complementary pathways.
“Nothing about us without us” is not just a slogan, it’s the foundation for refugee inclusion. Jumpstart engages with other refugee-led and serving organizations to advocate for refugee economic inclusion, co-design programming, deliver impact, and build-up capacity.
Co-designed programming and provided funding & capacity development to 7 international refugee serving organizations in Latin America to increase awareness and participation in economic mobility programs: Asociacion Salto Angel, Veneactiva Peru, Coalicion Por Venezuela, Asociacion Lambda, Asoenvear, Living Water Community, and ONG Migrantes Por El Maule.
Collaborated with 5 international refugee serving organizations to deliver economic inclusion programming for displaced and returnee Syrians in the MENA region: Al Hayat Team, Basmeh & Zeitooneh, Bahar Organization, Violet Organization, and Molham Team.
