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TalentInitiator

Applying to an employer that uses TalentInitiator

Some employers and staffing agencies in Canada use TalentInitiator to sort applications, ask screening questions and run interviews. A person at the employer makes every decision about you. Here is what to expect, and what you can ask for at any time.

Who is responsible for your application

The employer. We provide the software; the employer’s team reads your answers and makes the decisions, and their privacy lead answers your requests. Their contact details are in every message they send you and in your candidate portal.

Where to start

Every message from the employer includes a personal link to your candidate portal. That is where you answer questions, book an interview, check your status, download your information and ask for a review.

This website is separate from the product and cannot see any application. We cannot open your file for you: write to the employer, whose contact details are in your portal.

What to expect

  1. You apply

    On the employer’s careers page or through a job board. Before you send anything, you see what is collected, why, how long it is kept and where it is stored, including the part processed outside Canada.

  2. You may answer a few questions

    By chat, at your own pace. A notice tells you the chat is automated before the first question, and “Talk to a person” is there on every turn. You can switch between English and French at any time.

  3. You may be interviewed

    Interviews are written: one question at a time, saved as you go, and read over before you send them. Answering by voice or video comes with release 1.0 (target: Q4 2027), and video will never be required.

  4. A person decides

    A recruiter reviews your answers and records a reason for every decision. Software can suggest an order to review applications in; it cannot reject you.

  5. You hear back

    If you are interviewed, you are told the outcome within 45 days of your last interview. You can open “Why this decision” to see the factors and the information used.

Your rights

You can use any of these at any time, from your candidate portal or by writing to the employer.
To be told when AI is used
Ontario postings must say when AI screens applicants. Employers using TalentInitiator say so in every province.
To deal with a person
Ask for a person in the chat, for the interview, or to review a decision.
To hear back
Within 45 days of your last interview.
To know why
See the factors and the information behind a decision, and ask for a review by a person.
To see and copy your information
Download what the employer holds about you. Requests are answered within 30 days.
To correct it
Fix anything that was read wrongly from your résumé.
To have it deleted
Your information is anonymized. Ontario requires postings, application forms and outcome notices to be kept 3 years; those records stay, reduced to what the rule needs, and you are told until when.
To withdraw consent and unsubscribe
Unsubscribe links and STOP replies take effect at once.
To complain
Start with the employer’s privacy lead. You can also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or, in Quebec, the Commission d’accès à l’information.

Help and more information

  • Accommodations

    You can ask for extra time, captions, a phone interview, text-only answers or an interviewer who is a person. Use the accommodation option in your portal, or write to the employer.

    Candidate pages follow WCAG 2.1 AA and work with a keyboard and a screen reader.

    Read our accessibility statement 

  • Spotted a posting that looks wrong?

    Every public posting has a “Report this posting” control. Reports go to the employer’s compliance team, and our fraud policy explains what happens next.

    Read the fraud policy 

  • How the software uses AI

    What is hidden from it, what it can never decide, and how to ask for a person.

    Read how we use AI