Outsourced employment reference checks
Employment Reference Checks for Canadian Employers
We call every reference so your team does not have to.
Objective, consistent, and documented.
Outsource Your Reference Calls to a Canadian Team
Reference checks are the step everyone agrees matters and nobody has time for. Phone tag with a former manager who is in meetings all day is not what your HR team should spend its afternoon on, and a rushed reference call produces a rushed answer. That is the case for using a reference check agency.
What a Reference Check Tells You
A resume tells you what a candidate did. An interview tells you how they tell it. A reference check tells you what the person who managed them actually experienced.
Former managers are more candid with a neutral researcher than with the company about to hire their ex-employee, and because every candidate is asked the same questions in the same order, you can hold two shortlisted people side by side instead of comparing one manager’s enthusiasm against another’s.
*Sample investigative reference report, shown for illustration only. Actual reports vary in content and format.
THE REPORT
What’s Included in a Reference Check?
Our most-ordered reference product is the investigative reference report. It does three things, the same way for every candidate, so your team can compare like with like.
01
Employment confirmed
Who the candidate worked for, in what role, and for how long, checked against the resume in front of you.
02
Reason for leaving
Why they left, in the former employer's words rather than the candidate's.
03
Relationship verified
How the reference knows the candidate, and whether there is any other connection between them.
04
Performance and work habits
A written account of duties, strengths, reliability, and how the candidate held up under pressure.
05
Management style and team fit
How they worked with colleagues, how they responded to direction, and where they have room to develop.
06
Rating and recommendation
A score out of five from the person who managed them, and a direct answer on whether they would recommend the candidate.
And your questions
Add position-specific questions to any reference check and we will put them to every reference, so the answers stay comparable. They come back at the end of the report.
FOR EXAMPLE
"Did this person ever work unsupervised on a client site?"
"Can you confirm they managed a unionised crew, and how that went?"
"Were they ever responsible for cash, a float, or a company card?"
WHERE IT BELONGS
Which roles should get a reference check?
Most Canadian employers order reference checks on every external hire. The case is strongest where the cost of a bad hire is high.
Team leadership
Anyone with direct reports, where a management style you did not ask about becomes your retention problem.
Client-facing roles
Account management and service positions where the hire represents your brand to someone else's business.
Unsupervised and multi-site work
Remote, field, and multi-site roles where reliability cannot be observed day to day.
Positions of trust
Roles involving vulnerable persons, which we recommend pairing with an
enhanced criminal record check.
Safety-sensitive work
Where attendance, judgment, and following procedure are not optional.
Any resume with a gap
A short tenure or an unexplained gap is a question, and a reference is the fastest way to answer it.
Most reference checks do not fail because a reference says something damaging. They fail because nobody ever reaches them, and the offer goes out anyway. – Tim Hardie, President
FOUR EASY STEPS
How employment reference checks work
01
Add the check to your order
Order a reference check on its own, or alongside a
criminal record check and
employment verification, in one eScreener order.
02
Your candidate consents
They receive a secure link, confirm their identity, and provide written consent, which is captured and stored for you.
03
We make the calls
Our researchers reach each reference by phone, ask the core set plus your custom questions, and keep chasing the ones who do not answer.
04
Results land in the eScreener
The written report appears in your dashboard, timestamped and stored alongside every other check on that candidate.
No phone tag, no callbacks to schedule, and no need for your HR team to write up a single conversation.
CONSENT AND COMPLIANCE
Reference checking in Canada, done by the book
Reference checking is legal in Canada and, done properly, is also documented.
Written consent comes first
No reference is contacted until the candidate has provided documented, informed consent, captured and retained in the eScreener as part of the order.
A former employer can give a negative reference
This is the question employers ask most often, and the answer is yes, provided the feedback is truthful and given in good faith. More in
Can an Employer Give a Bad Reference in Canada?
The same questions, every candidate
Consistency is what makes a reference-checking process fair and defensible. Custom questions are set per role, not per candidate.
False references are a real risk
A reference who is a friend, a relative, or a paid service is more common than most employers expect. Our researchers confirm the reference is who they claim to be, at the organisation they claim to represent, and every report records what other relationship the reference has to the candidate. More in
False References: How Concerned Should Employers Be?
Track every reference all within the eScreener
Every reference check you order shows its status in the eScreener, from the moment the request lands to the finished report. You can see which references have been reached, which are still being chased, and which need something from you, without emailing anyone to ask.
Once a reference has been taken, the report is completed in minutes and is available to you online right away. No waiting on a PDF to arrive by email, and no wondering whether anyone has actually picked up the phone.
Employment Reference Check FAQs
What is a reference check?
A reference check is a structured conversation with a candidate's former employer, manager, or colleague, run to confirm what the candidate has told you and to learn how they performed. It confirms the employer, the positions held, how long the candidate worked there, and why they left, then gathers the reference's written account of work habits, integrity, management style, and areas of development. Canadian employers usually order reference checks through a screening provider so the calls are made consistently and documented.
How long does a reference check take?
It depends almost entirely on how quickly the reference returns the call. Our researchers make and receive calls throughout the business day and keep chasing a reference who does not answer the first time. Once the reference has been taken, the report is completed in minutes and the results are available to you online right away.
What is the difference between a reference check and an employment verification?
An employment verification is a records check. It confirms that a candidate held the title they claim, at the employer they claim, between the dates they claim, which is what closes a gap on a resume or catches an inflated title. A reference check is a conversation. It confirms those same facts, then asks a named person who worked with the candidate what they were actually like to work with: their work habits, their judgment, and how they handled the people around them. Most employers order both on the same candidate. You can add employment verification, education verification, or credential and accreditation verification to the same eScreener order.
Can we outsource our reference checks?
Yes, and most of our clients do. Using a reference check service means you specify the candidate, the references, and any position-specific questions. Our researchers make the calls, chase the ones who do not answer, and deliver the report. Your team does not make a single phone call.
What should you look for in a reference check agency?
Reference check agencies differ most in four ways. Whether they phone the reference or email them a form, because a live conversation produces detail a questionnaire never will. How many times they chase a reference who does not answer, since that is where most reference checks quietly fail. Whether you can add your own questions for the role rather than accepting a fixed template. And where your candidate data is stored, because a Canadian provider keeps it under Canadian privacy law.
What questions do you ask in a reference check?
The investigative reference report follows a set structure: employer, positions held, length of time worked, relationship to the candidate, any other relationship, and reason for leaving, then written sections on job duties and function, strengths and contributions, work habits and performance, management style, integrity and stress management, areas of development, and attitude and interaction. It closes with the contact's overall rating out of five and a direct question about whether they would recommend the candidate for employment. On top of that, you can add custom questions for the specific role.
Do you need the candidate's consent to contact their references?
Yes. Documented, informed consent is collected before any reference is contacted, and it is retained in the eScreener with the rest of the candidate's file.
Can a former employer give a negative reference in Canada?
Yes, as long as the feedback is truthful and given in good faith. Many employers assume references are limited to confirming dates of employment, which is a policy choice some companies make rather than a legal requirement.
