Interview with Sophie Bergeron, Relocation Consultant - BRP, and our duo of relocation experts in Canada: Isabelle Vigneault and Karina Normand.
BRP Inc. is a world leader in motersports products, propulsion systems and boats, built on more than 80 years of ingenuity and customer focus.
With a portfolio of distinctive and leading brands that includes Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft and pontoons, off-road and on-road vehicles, Alumacraft and Quintrex boats, Manitou pontoons and Rotax marine propulsion systems, as well as Rotax engines for go-karts and recreational aircraft, BRP opens the door to exhilarating adventures and provides access to experiences on different playgrounds.
The Company complements its product ranges with a dedicated portfolio of parts, accessories and clothing to fully optimise the riding experience.
Committed to growing responsibly, BRP is developing electric models for its existing product lines and exploring new low-voltage and human-assisted product categories.
Headquartered in Quebec, Canada, BRP has annual sales of CA$10 billion from more than 130 countries and employs nearly 23,000 resourceful and motivated people worldwide.
Hello, I am Sophie, and I have been working as a Relocation Consultant at BRP for two years now. I look after relocations that come from abroad.
It's a position that was created to support expatriate talent and respond to the shortage of manpower in some of our specific sectors, such as design and electrical engineering. These are positions where we need highly specialised expertise, which is why we need to look for our talent abroad. For example, In France, there are some very good design schools. Our search for talent enables us to make up for the shortage of manpower, to fill highly specialised positions and simply to find the best talent to meet our manpower needs.
At BRP, relocation not only affects our international employees, but also candidates from other Canadian provinces, not to mention Quebecers who live further away from our facilities.
I am mainly in charge of logistical support for the arrival of talent.
I introduce them to Quebec in general, the cost of living and answer their questions. When you move to another country, you have a lot of questions, sometimes very stressful ones. I'm there to support them in their day-to-day lives, so that they feel they're being looked after and that we are there to support them in their choice of lifestyle.
I also create documents to inform them about everyday issues in Quebec. Some talents arrive in the middle of winter, and anticipating the weather in an unfamiliar country can sometimes be very stressful, so I advise them on things such as how to equip their car for winter driving.
I also take care of airplane tickets and manage everything related to the relocation of talents. I liaise between the teams and the new talent arriving with us to put them in touch or tell them when the person is supposed to arrive and start work.
We also help with the day-to-day running of the talents and their social integration. We organise events to bring people together. It's a great way of breaking down social isolation when you're an expatriate.
Let’s take the example of a young professional we hired in France. Once he receives his work permit, we put him in touch with Karina, Anywr's relocation coordinator. We usually allow a month between obtaining the work permit and arriving in Quebec, but it can take longer, depending on the case.
Anywr takes care of finding temporary accommodation, arranging the appointments needed for the opening and creating all the administrative documents.
Once I've booked the plane ticket for the talent, I inform Karina and she arranges for someone from her team to collect the Talent in person directly from the airport.
With Anywr, it's the consultant himself who picks them up.
I find this approach so welcoming!
Karina always sends me an e-mail to let me know if the person has arrived at the airport safely. We also have a final report with all the steps taken with the Talent. This transparent follow-up is a real asset when it comes to complying with our internal controls.
They then take the Talent on a tour of the city to help them discover their new environment and taste the famous poutine!
Anywr consultants don't come empty-handed! They welcome our relocatees with a packed hamper, just like they welcome family!
The collaboration with our two entities (BRP & Anywr) already existed before I joined BRP. At the time Anywr was called Cooptalis. The relationship began in 2020, when we only had two or three relocation cases a year with the Cooptalis teams.
Then, we noticed that the teams had a great deal of understanding and flexibility to respond to the files. We had good visibility of the work that was being done, and we were also getting very good feedback on their services. So naturally, we began to call on them more and more outside Montreal!
Our teams have a very good relationship with Isabelle and Karina. We always get good feedback from our talent about Anywr's services.
You can tell they have expatriate experience, you can tell they've lived it!
In Canada, as elsewhere in the world, we have a lot of immigration issues and changes; it's a sensitive subject.
Anywr's consultants keep abreast of new immigration reforms and news and warn us when this might affect our relocations. The teams anticipate things, and that's much appreciated!
Flexibility, responsiveness, and support are the words that come to mind.
Anywr can provide flexibility even when talent arrives at the last minute.
They can help our Talents and accompany them in buying a car and finding the best value for money.
I would also add: "family-friendly".
It's not just a 'professional' relationship, it's warm and family-friendly. They're also very patient and will always try to find solutions!
As someone who is very maternal with my relocatees, it's this aspect that I find in the support provided by the Anywr teams.
They go outside their remit. They organise events to enable the consultants to see their transferees again. It's not a question of hours to be worked on a contract. They continue their relationship with their relocates and take their well-being to heart.
In Canada, we have tariffs to better assist profiles such as welders, for example, with accommodation issues.
The operations team at BRP, which is responsible for typical 'welder' profiles, heard about Anywr's good services. So, they wanted to work with the team.
We also have a department at BRP that deals with expatriations around the world. We have manufacturing operations in 6 countries and offices in several others.
Anywr will therefore start to take charge of expatriations to other countries such as Austria, Switzerland, the United States, Mexico, and Finland.
We now want to take advantage of the quality of Anywr's services in other countries!
We're going to start using their services elsewhere in the world. For example, I'm currently looking at how I can look after relocated workers in Brazil with the Anywr teams.
The Anywr Canada relocation teams tell us about their partnership with BRP.
Karina NORMAND:
My name is Karina, I am the coordinator at Anywr.
I am the intermediary between BRP, the Talents and our relocation consultants in the field.
It is mainly about coordination, like an orchestra conductor, I make sure that everyone is well coordinated, that all the players are in place and that all the services are provided.
I make sure that the needs of the talent are properly met. I make sure that the service is delivered as required. Isabelle supports me on the contracts side.
Isabelle VIGNEAULT:
I'm Isabelle, Director of Relocation Canada. I'm involved in supporting and maintaining relations with BRP. I try to be present for the various meetings, even though Karina and Sophie already have a good relationship. In fact, I've been involved in our positioning on the subject of international relocation contracts.
K: What’s great is that things are smooth between us, there’s a lot of communication. We really work together as collaborative partners, we have the same vision of things. We want the talent that arrives to be well welcomed and happy. We write to each other a lot, so we know exactly how Sophie, our client, and I are getting on!
It's a privilege for us to work for a company like BRP, which is one of Quebec’s finest jewels in the crown of Ski-Doo success!
Isabelle:
We're proud to contribute to the success of this company.
We’re also delighted to be able to introduce newcomers to a lesser-known region like the Eastern Townships, where the Valcourt factory is located.
K: I would say that there were no particular problems, we've adjusted as we went along. We really work collaborativelyas partners.
If I had to talk about more complex things, I'd talk more about contracts. BRP is a large company with more elaborate and substantial contracts. For example, we went from a 5-page contract to over 50 pages, but we haven't seen it negatively.
I: BRP makes us grow! They are vigilant about contracts and everything to do with cybersecurity. They allow us to evolve through more complex contracts.
This partnership has also challenged us in the sense that we had less of a presence in the Eastern Townships. We had to double our efforts to better understand, develop and expand our scope in this region!
The "problems" encountered with BRP are ultimately growth opportunities for Anywr!
Take advantage of a quality relocation for your expatriate talents around the world.