Candidate attraction is the active side of recruiting: going to where qualified people are instead of waiting for them to find your ad. It matters most for roles where the pool is genuinely thin. We plan the channels, write the messages, set up referral mechanics and track every source through to hire, so you stop paying for channels that produce applicants but no employees.
When it's the right service
Attraction campaigns make sense after your process and story are in reasonable shape. If candidates already drop out because nobody calls them back, more candidates make the problem bigger. We'll tell you if that's the case, and point you to hiring process design first.
Good candidates for a campaign:
- specialist or senior roles with few qualified people in your region
- bilingual roles, particularly English and French
- roles in smaller or remote communities, including the North
- seasonal ramp-ups where you need several people by a fixed date
- employers entering a new province
The channels we plan across
| Channel | Best for | What usually goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Your own careers pages and search | Every role | Pages too thin to rank or convince |
| Job boards, including the federal Job Bank | Volume roles, broad reach | Copy-paste ads that look like every other ad |
| Paid job promotion | Time-bound needs | Budget spent before the ad is tested |
| Professional and social networks | Specialists, passive candidates | Generic outreach that reads like spam |
| Employee referrals | Culture-sensitive roles | No clear process, so staff stop referring |
| Schools, colleges and associations | Entry-level and trade-adjacent roles | One-off visits with no follow-up |
| Former applicants and alumni | Repeat roles | No consented record to go back to |
We pick three or four that fit the role, not all of them.
Referral programs that people actually use
A referral program is often the cheapest effective channel, and the most neglected. The common failure is a program that exists on paper but has no owner. We set up:
- a short description staff can forward, written from your EVP
- a single, simple way to submit a name
- a promise to every referrer that they'll hear what happened, kept by a named person
- a monthly note to staff listing open roles
Any referral reward is your decision; we help you design one that's clear, but we don't set amounts.
Outreach messages and consent
Direct outreach works when it is short, specific and clearly from a real person. We write sequences of two or three messages per role, with placeholders such as [First name], [Role title] and [One specific reason this person fits].
Electronic outreach in Canada has to respect the anti-spam rules. ISED publishes guidance on getting consent to send email; we build campaigns with that in mind and recommend counsel confirms your approach. We don't buy contact lists.
Timeline and measurement
Week 1: review where past hires came from, define the target profile, choose channels.
Weeks 2–3: write ads and messages, set up tracking links and source fields in your applicant tracking system.
Weeks 4–10: run, review weekly, move effort toward what produces interviews.
We measure each channel by:
- qualified applicants (meeting the must-haves)
- interviews
- offers and hires
- days from first contact to hire
Clicks and impressions are reported but never treated as success. The reporting runs through our recruiting metrics setup.
Mistakes to avoid
Spreading thin. Seven channels at low effort lose to three channels done properly.
Measuring the wrong thing. A channel with cheap applicants and no hires is expensive.
Messages about you, not them. The first line of outreach should be about why the reader fits, not your company history.
No plan for the replies. If a strong candidate answers on a Friday and hears nothing until Thursday, the campaign has failed at the last step.
The region pages describe how labour pools differ across Canada, and our capacity planning guide shows how to size a campaign before you spend.
Frequently asked questions
Do you contact candidates on our behalf?
We can help set up and run campaigns, but we do not represent candidates or act as your recruiter. Outreach goes out under your company's name, and replies come to your team.
Which channels work best?
It depends on the role and the region. A bilingual role in Moncton, a specialist in Calgary and a seasonal role in Whitehorse each need different channels. We decide after looking at where your past good hires came from.
Is paid job advertising worth it?
Sometimes. It is worth it when the role is well defined, the ad is strong and the process responds quickly. Paying for traffic into a slow process mostly buys withdrawals.
Do the anti-spam rules apply to recruiting messages?
They can. Canada's anti-spam legislation governs commercial electronic messages, and recruiting outreach can fall within it depending on the circumstances. We link ISED's guidance and recommend you confirm your approach with counsel.
Sources
- Government of Canada: Job Bank (2026-10-23)
- ISED: Getting consent to send email (CASL) (2026-10-23)