GOVERNMENT RELATIONS & ADVOCACY
helps reduce the administrative burden 
that businesses face but also creates a more 
appealing environment for international 
talent. We're dealing with rising cross-
border risks, and the need for safety in 
work and travel, and I think that these 
efforts are crucial for attracting the right 
talent for our organizations. Being part of 
CERC really boosts our ability to push for 
the reforms we need.”
For Martyn, membership in an organiza-
tion like CERC is all about strength in 
numbers. “By being part of a much greater 
number of companies going to govern-
ment, I think your voice has a lot more 
weight,” she says. “While government can 
potentially overlook one small company 
and its views on a particular immigration 
issue or mobility issue, it's a lot tougher 
when you've got a hundred organizations 
under the banner of CERC, going to 
government with the same concerns  
and platform.”
Of course, the government is constantly 
being lobbied by this organization or that, 
advocating for policies that benefit their 
members’ interests. Fortunately, CERC 
has established itself over many years as a 
heavy hitter worthy of the government’s 
attention. “I would say they are more 
open to collaboration with CERC than 
with most other groups in Canada,” says 
Martyn. “From a government perspective, 
CERC is one of the leading organizations 
in the mobility immigration space and 
has great relationships across the federal 
and provincial governments. CERC is 
also very fast on the ground in terms of 
surveying its members, getting a consensus 
on particular issues, developing an organ-
ization-wide position on the issue, and 
bringing that to the government's atten-
tion. So certainly when CERC speaks, 
government listens.”
Ottawa has its hands full mitigating the 
seismic changes taking place to the inter-
national order over the last year. As such, 
maintaining its ear will be critical moving 
forward. For Martyn, key issues on the 
radar will be “foreign workers already 
gainfully employed in Canada, but who 
cannot transition to PR status because 
for various reasons it's become much 
more competitive to get that PR status. 
Having these foreign nationals in Canada 
who are established here, are members 
of local communities and contributing to 
Canadian workplaces, but who can't get 
that PR status to stay on a long-term basis 
is by far the biggest issue.” 
Poddar’s focus will be primarily in two 
areas: compliance and digital transforma-
tion. On the compliance side, the effort 
will be toward modernizing talent mobility 
and addressing barriers regarding housing, 
taxation and credential recognition for  
the talent. 
Regarding digital transformation, it’s 
about taking advantage of lightning-fast 
technological advances. “AI and auto-
mation can really streamline relocation 
processes and allow for a more personal-
ized support,” notes Poddar, “which will 
not only ease the burden on businesses, 
but also enhance the experience for the 
employees that are relocating.”
Both Poddar and Martyn are active in 
advocating for the CERC membership, 
with Martyn part of the Pacific Regional 
Committee, and Poddar on the CERC 
Government Relations Tax Committee. 
Relative to the Pacific Region Committee, 
Martyn concludes, “When a really pressing 
immigration development comes down the 
pipeline, CERC will marshal all of its efforts 
to canvas members for a consensus and 
bring that forward to government.” 
For her part, Poddar pledges to continue 
“facilitating conversations between the 
industry and policymakers. CERC’s role 
will continue to be advocating for policies 
that support global mobility and ensuring 
that the voices of businesses are heard.”  
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