Becoming an Employer of Choice: Recruitment, Compliance, and Candidate Experience with Maki Morriss
Maki Morriss is on the front lines of one of the biggest challenges facing Canadian businesses today: finding and keeping great people in the skilled trades. As founder and CEO of Riverstone Management Ltd., Maki works with construction, manufacturing, and industrial employers across Canada to help them attract, assess, and retain the talent they need to grow.
In this episode of the True North Compliance Podcast, Maki and I dive into the often‑overlooked world of recruitment compliance. Many employers are surprised to learn that recruitment is a regulated industry in places like BC and Ontario. Agencies and individual recruiters must be licensed, bonded, and listed on a public registry. On top of that, it is illegal in Canada to charge candidates to find them a job, and there can be serious penalties for both unlicensed recruiters and the employers who knowingly use them.
Maki also walks us through the added complexity of foreign worker recruitment. Before an employer can apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) or bring in a temporary foreign worker, they may need to be registered with the province and work alongside a licensed immigration consultant. Done properly, this can be a powerful way to fill key roles. Done poorly—or “under the table”—it creates serious legal, ethical, and reputational risks.
But the conversation is not just about rules and penalties. Maki brings a very human lens to the process. She reminds us that a job change is one of the most significant life events a person can experience, and that employers are competing for talent in a candidate‑driven market. Gen Z and younger workers want more than just a paycheque; they want to feel that their work has meaning, that the company cares about its people, and that the culture aligns with their values.
We talk about the Wage Transparency Act in BC, the importance of clearly listing compensation in job ads, and how employment branding and social media play a huge role in attracting the right people. Maki shares practical ideas like internal referral programs, verifying trade credentials through Skilled Trades BC, and even acting as a “mystery candidate” to test your own hiring process from the inside.
If you are a construction or manufacturing leader, an HR professional, or a business owner who feels stuck in the cycle of “not enough people, not enough time,” this conversation is for you. Maki offers a roadmap to becoming an employer of choice, building a repeatable hiring process, and staying on the right side of the law while you do it.
You can listen to this episode of the True North Compliance Podcast on most podcast apps. Search for “True North Compliance Podcast” to hear my full interview with Maki Morriss and start rethinking how you recruit in today’s labour market.
