Expansion in times of pandemic presents a challenge. Nonetheless, Canada has been on our radar for some time due to our growing Canadian customer base and the increased market appetite for automated recruitment technology.
Recently named as the most attractive staffing market in the Americas due to its highly-rated business environments, favourable staffing regulations and potential for long-term growth, our decision to expand into Canada was clear.
The pieces fell nicely into place late in 2019. Discussions about establishing a Canadian office culminated with our APAC Client Services Manager BJ Blumenthal, a Canadian by birth, being brought into the picture.
We didn’t foresee a pandemic sweeping across the globe, but even that didn't stop the plans to expand our Americas operation into Canada from moving forward.
In late summer this year, after overcoming several delays caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions along with a typhoon hitting Hong Kong, BJ made the move from Hong Kong to Canada. After four years with DaXtra APAC, BJ has returned to his homeland as DaXtra’s first Canadian Country Manager, expanding our North American presence with an office in Ottawa, Ontario. Nothing has got in the way of his indomitable spirit, drive and effort.
Looking back
BJ’s recruitment career began around 18 years ago when he started as a recruiter at the Hong Kong-based firm, Top Executive, where he stayed for more than a decade. He then moved to JAC Recruitment, one of APAC’s largest recruiting groups. Advancing through the company and picking up skills along the way, BJ ended up as the corporate head of strategy and business development. As a DaXtra customer, it was at JAC that BJ became familiar with DaXtra’s powerful AI solutions. He even made a couple of key placements for our APAC operation before joining DaXtra's Hong Kong office as APAC Client Services Manager.
His extensive experience in the staffing industry means he has a thorough understanding of recruiting workflows and pain points. This has made him very successful at helping his clients solve their challenges with DaXtra’s innovative recruitment solutions.
BJ expressed his enthusiasm for this opportunity, “I’m excited to begin working closely with potential customers and partners to help accelerate the automation transformation in Canada’s staffing industry.”
Expansion to Canada
We're currently setting up an office in the capital city of Canada, Ottawa - a bilingual city in Ontario with a large and growing tech community.
Growth statistics there look optimistic. The Association of Canadian Search, Employment & Staffing Services (ACSESS), Canada’s authority on the recruiting, employment and staffing services industry, announced that upwards of $15 billion in revenue generated by the staffing services industry was reported by businesses in Ontario (58.3%), Alberta (16.1%) and Quebec (14.5%).
A report published recently by Staffing Industry Analysts found Canada to be the most attractive staffing market in the Americas.
What makes Canada so appealing?
- Market size
- Ease of doing business
- Regulations on temporary agency work
- Long-term growth potential
- Political stability
- Human capital
Its high ranking against these key industry criteria supported our view that Canada was a clear choice for expansion.
Toby Conibear, DaXtra’s CCO says, “We’re delighted to give BJ the opportunity to expand DaXtra’s footprint into Canada and look forward to realising the enormous growth potential there.”
With more than 18 years' experience spanning multinational recruitment organisations, BJ is eager to take on the role of the new Canada Country Manager. He’ll be able to draw on his past sales, client services and technical experience to spearhead operations in Ottawa. In this new role, BJ will oversee DaXtra’s efforts to build and create solutions to improve recruitment processes in Canada.
To speak with BJ or for a live demo of DaXtra solutions, please contact us here.
