Halifax is treating professional networking as part of the infrastructure that helps international talent build a future in the region.
A job can bring someone to a place, but it does not necessarily give them a reason to stay. For internationally mobile professionals, the move is only the beginning. Finding work, building a professional network, understanding the local labour market and developing connections in the community can all shape what happens next.
That is the thinking behind the Connector Program, a long-running initiative of Halifax Partnership that treats professional networking not simply as a career service, but as part of the region’s approach to talent retention.
Robyn Webb, who just retired as Director of Labour Market Development and Executive Director of the National Connector Program at Halifax Partnership, believes this is an area where many communities still have a blind spot. “Often, communities approach retention as an extension of recruitment. They invest significant resources in attracting talent but don’t spend as much time helping people build the relationships and sense of belonging that encourage them to stay.”
The distinction is important. Someone may arrive because of a job opportunity, but the decision to build a future somewhere is influenced by what happens outside the workplace too. Professional relationships can help a newcomer understand how the local labour market works, open doors to opportunities that are not immediately visible, and provide the beginnings of a social and professional network in an unfamiliar place.
For Halifax Partnership, that makes networking part of the infrastructure of retention.
Designing the connections that newcomers need
The Connector Program was established in Halifax in 2009 with a deliberately simple model: connect newcomers and emerging talent with established professionals in their industry.
The purpose is not only to introduce people to potential employers. Connectors help newcomers expand their professional networks, understand the local labour market and discover opportunities, while also giving employers a way to engage with internationally trained professionals and people bringing different experiences into the workforce.
That simplicity is part of what makes the model interesting. Talent attraction strategies can become increasingly elaborate as places compete internationally. Campaigns, platforms, recruitment missions and relocation services all have their place. But once someone arrives, one of the most consequential questions can be surprisingly basic: who do I know here?
Without an existing network, a newcomer can struggle to understand professional norms, identify opportunities or find people who can help make sense of the local environment. A place can therefore offer a strong employment proposition and still leave an important part of the talent journey to chance.
The Connector Program attempts to intervene at precisely that point.
From networking to retention
For Webb, the value of these relationships extends beyond finding a first job. “People may come for a job, but they stay because they feel connected to the place.”
That connection has a professional dimension, but it is also social and civic. People need opportunities to contribute, build relationships and see themselves as part of the community.
This makes retention harder to measure than recruitment. A person who remains in a city for another six months is not necessarily building a long-term future there. For Webb, more meaningful indicators include whether people find employment that matches their skills and experience, whether they see opportunities for career development and whether they become connected to both their profession and their community.
In that sense, retention is not simply about preventing people from leaving. It is about creating enough connection for staying to become an attractive option.
A local solution becomes a wider model
What began as a Halifax initiative has since developed into the National Connector Program, a model that organisations can use to establish their own local programmes.
The programme now operates in 47 communities across Canada as well as internationally in the United States, Switzerland and Sweden. That expansion suggests the underlying problem is not unique to Halifax.
Many places can help people find jobs. Fewer have thought as deliberately about the professional networks that surround those jobs.
For Webb, that is precisely why the idea deserves more attention internationally. “The idea that professional networking can be intentionally designed as a talent retention strategy deserves more attention in our industry.”
It is a modest intervention compared with a major international recruitment campaign, but it addresses a part of the talent journey that large-scale promotion cannot solve.
Making connection part of the proposition
The fact that the Connector model has expanded to 47 communities across Canada and internationally points to a broader lesson: professional connection does not have to be left to chance.
A place can design the conditions that help newcomers understand its labour market, build professional relationships and find their way into the wider community. For talent attraction, that means the work does not end with recruitment. The networks around the job can be part of what makes the place worth staying in.
This article is part of Talent Attraction: Practitioner Perspectives, a series of six perspectives from people shaping talent strategy in cities and regions. For the wider picture, drawn from 43 places, see The State of Talent Attraction 2026: From Campaigns to Infrastructure.
Halifax is also featured in the Talent Attraction Leaders Europe & North America special edition.
