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Artificial intelligence is reshaping the job market from both sides of the hiring table. Employers are deploying AI-powered tools to screen applicants, rank candidates and streamline recruitment, while job seekers are turning to similar technology to craft resumes and prepare for interviews. As Canada’s labour market remains difficult for many workers, the race to adopt AI in hiring is accelerating rapidly.
How Employers Are Using AI in Recruitment
Companies now use a broad range of AI tools to manage the volume and complexity of modern hiring. Jason Murray, president and managing partner at Toronto-based executive recruitment firm BES Executive Search, says the technology helps employers work more efficiently. “Employers are using it to be able to help them manage their time, to help them rank, to help them sort, to help them summarize,” he said.
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Some platforms go further by replacing traditional first-round interviews entirely. Toronto-based Ribbon has built an AI-powered interviewing platform where candidates interact with a conversational bot instead of a human recruiter. Ottawa-based Knockri takes a different approach, using recorded interview questions and AI analysis to evaluate candidate responses.
Knockri chief executive and co-founder Jahanzaib Ansari says his platform focuses on identifying behaviours and skills that predict success in specific roles. “We’re looking for certain behaviors and skills that correlate to success predictors in that job role,” he said. Ansari also emphasizes that the system avoids penalizing candidates for characteristics unrelated to job performance. “I grew up with a terrible stutter. So that is not penalized,” he said.
New Rules and Growing Scrutiny
Ontario introduced new regulations this year requiring employers to disclose when they use AI to recruit or screen job candidates. The rules reflect a sharp rise in references to AI across job postings in a wide range of occupations. Supporters argue that AI hiring tools can reduce certain forms of human bias by focusing on measurable, job-related competencies rather than subjective impressions.
Critics and many job seekers remain unconvinced. On professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn, candidates frequently complain that automated systems rejected their applications before any human reviewed them. Murray acknowledges the risks that come with poorly implemented AI in hiring. “Here we have technologies that can actually make us go backwards if we’re not using them correctly,” he said.
Job Seekers Fight Back With Their Own AI Tools
As employers embrace AI in recruitment, applicants are increasingly using similar technology to compete. Various tools now promise to help users build resumes, tailor cover letters and even generate interview answers in real time during virtual interviews. Murray notes that emerging platforms could soon allow candidates to automate nearly the entire application process. “There are a lot of AI technologies that are starting to pop up that will allow individuals to not be a part of their application process at all,” he said.
However, employers may draw a line at certain uses of AI by applicants. Ansari compared using AI assistance during an interview assessment to reaching for a calculator when independent thinking is the point of the exercise. “It’s like there is a particular time in an interview or an assessment, you want them to just use their brain and not the calculator,” he said.
A Shifting Balance in the Hiring Process
The growing role of AI in hiring is forcing both employers and candidates to decide how far they are willing to rely on technology. The debate centres on where helpful automation ends and where it begins to undermine the human judgment that hiring ultimately requires. Both sides of the equation appear to agree on one point: AI is already a significant force in recruitment, and its influence is only set to grow.
For workers navigating Canada’s challenging job market, understanding how AI reshapes hiring may be as important as any qualification on a resume. The technology is no longer a future consideration — it is already shaping who gets an interview and who does not.
