Isaac Mwaura: Beware, online hiring for big jobs in Canada is a scam

Millions of unsuspecting Kenyans have reason to be wary of companies claiming to offer jobs overseas.

This is after it emerged that some of these companies are fake, despite claiming to have partnered with the Kenyan government to offer thousands of job opportunities in Canada.

This follows a widely shared link from one of the companies claiming to have been contracted by the Kenyan government to advertise job opportunities available in Canada for both skilled and unskilled workers.

“Application deadline is July 18, 2024, at 23:59 (12 o’clock) midnight. The telephone interview will take place on July 19, 2024. We are accredited by the Ministry of Labour and operate within national and international labour laws,” the ad reads.

According to the purported advertisement, the Canadian Embassy in Kenya is recruiting people in Kenya for various jobs ranging from bakery workers, babysitters, parental assistants, processing equipment, cleaners, industrial butchers and meat cutters, housekeepers, truck drivers, nannies, security guards among others.

While the government has previously resorted to partnering with the Canadian government to get Kenyans to take up thousands of job opportunities to reduce the growing unemployment gap in the country, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura dismissed the advertisement, saying it was fake after taking the time to check the link.

“I clarify that it is fake,” Dr Mwaura said.

Recently, the government advised Kenyans to exercise caution when dealing with agencies claiming to be recruiting for Canadian companies after several hundred Kenyans complained of being duped by such companies to the tune of millions of shillings promising jobs abroad.

In May last year, President William Ruto told Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly that her government was working on a labour migration framework that would allow more Kenyans to take up skilled jobs in the North American country.

He also said that Kenya would align the training of health workers at the Kenya Medical Training College and technical and vocational institutions with Canadian curricula to meet the needs of the country’s labour market.

“Kenya’s workforce is our greatest resource. They are well-educated and hardworking. Even as we invest in sectors that will create jobs in the country, opportunities for Kenyans abroad are another way to empower our young people,” said Dr Ruto.

President Ruto recently said that his government intends to send 250,000 Kenyans a year to take advantage of opportunities abroad as part of his plan to create jobs for the youth and improve remittances from Kenyans in the Diaspora.

Speaking during this year’s Labour Day celebrations, the President said that one million workers enter the labour market in Kenya every year, while only 200,000 are absorbed into formal jobs in both the private and public sectors.