Client FAQs

Ontario is the only province that observes Boxing Day as a paid statutory holiday. Meaning if you work in Ontario, you will have the day off and will receive public holiday pay, if eligible (please see How do I qualify for holiday pay? section above). If you’re being asked to work, please let us know right away by emailing timesheet@altis.com.  

If you’re an independent contractor in Ontario and would like to work, please confirm with our client that you are able to work while the office is closed and that your hours will be approved. 

If you are working a contract assignment through our firm in any other province than Ontario, this will mean one of the following for you:

1. If you’re working for a client of ours in either the private sector OR provincial government, you may work a normal day or may have an unpaid day off. Confirm with your supervisor or signing authority which one applies to you.  

2. If you’re working for a client of ours in the federal government, this leaves three possible outcomes:

1. You will have the day off (please know that it would be an unpaid day).

2. You can speak with us and/or your supervisor (or signing authority) and ask if you can make up the hours for your office closure on another day.

3. If you are an independent contractor or anyone else who would like to work, please confirm with the client that you are able to work while the office is closed and that your hours will be approved. 

3. If you’re working for a client of ours that is a federally regulated organization, your options would be the same as above (the a-b-c-) as federally regulated workplaces follow the Canada Labour Code.

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Yes. As part of our commitment to quality, we guarantee that every candidate placed has been interviewed by a member of our team.

Typically, we invite candidates to a virtual interview over videoconference (Zoom, MS Teams, Skype, FaceTime, etc.). 

Candidates are interviewed by our dedicated, expert recruiters who are well-versed in their industry or skill set. Our firm has strict service standards in place to evaluate our own performance metrics and ensure we are operating at the highest level. Our talented recruiters keep current with the marketplace and are fluent in best practices for conducting interviews and assessing hard and soft skill requirements.

Ultimately, we treat interviews as an invitation for our candidates to be assessed, coached, and walked through the requirements of the position, so they can learn how to best position themselves for future success.

We can customize billing to meet client needs on request. Clients can pay in a variety of ways, including by credit card using our general billing framework:

Temporary: Our client is billed weekly for the hours our temporary employee has worked, as approved by the client on the timesheet. 

Permanent: An invoice for services rendered is sent on the employee’s second working day.

Contract: In this case, client billing depends on our contract with the client and subcontracted firm. Generally, IT and professional billing is monthly. Please contact us for more information.

You can learn about our Accessible Customer Service Plan here.

In the emails you receive to review and approve hours, there will be a link provided that leads you to the timesheet portal. Alternatively, you can click here. Your username is either your email address or your full name. If you forgot your password, click “forgot password” to reset it.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act requires that all workers, including temporary employees, receive adequate training and instructions to protect their health and safety while on the job. Employers have a legal responsibility to ensure that all workers, including temporary employees, are informed about the hazards associated with their job duties and how to control and prevent those hazards. Employers are also required to provide information on workplace-specific hazards and procedures, which may include emergency response protocols and instructions for reporting workplace injuries or illnesses.  

Training for temporary employees can take many forms such as on the job training, classroom-style training, e-learning modules or a combination of these methods. Employers may also assign a supervisor or mentor to provide additional guidance and support to temporary employees during their first few days or weeks on the job.

It is essential that temporary employees receive adequate health and safety training to ensure that they are prepared to work safely and effectively.

Every brand has a story. And we’re excited to say that ours has just become a bit easier to tell.  

With this rebrand, we’re streamlining our offering, reducing brand confusion and taking the next big step toward achieving our North Star goal: becoming Canada’s largest independent recruitment firm.  

Over the past almost 35 years, as we expanded nationwide, we built separate businesses to serve clients in niche markets and distinct regions across Canada, each reflecting our different areas of specialization.  

This model made sense when our two co-founders, Kathryn Tremblay and Toni Guimaraes, were each responsible for different areas of our business. It also made sense pre-pandemic, when our team members worked onsite at different offices across Canada, each focused on growing the business locally (e.g., in Ottawa, GTA, Vancouver, etc.).  

However, with the passing of Toni Guimaraes from cancer in 2016, and our sudden switch to remote-by-choice work when the pandemic hit, we realized our business model was no longer in sync with the way we worked.  

Today, with one co-founder (our CEO Kathryn Tremblay) and one team that services clients and candidates right across Canada, we’re streamlining our offering by amalgamating our separate businesses under one brand umbrella—Altis. 

Going forward, we will operate under two distinct, specialized brand names:  

• Altis Technology: all IT staffing in the public and private sectors across Canada 
• Altis Recruitment:  all other staffing (except IT), spanning sectors and industries nationwide 

Under these two brands, we’ll continue to work together to provide the same great service to all our clients. Looking ahead, we’re unified in our vision of always combining business with humanity. 

Thanks for growing with us into the future!

Yes, we advocate for our candidates’ training and development. We always aim to select candidates who are ready for the role based on the client’s requirements. 

First, we work with clients to establish the training requirements. Then, as part of our onboarding process, we provide candidates with additional training and tutorials as necessary, while also ensuring that candidates are trained in AODA and health and safety legislations.

Post-placement, we offer cutting-edge, flexible pathways for ongoing professional development through various skills platforms (IBM Kenexa Prove It!, IKM TeckChek, Pluralsight, etc.). This allows candidates to continue their self-guided professional development so they can meet our clients’ fluctuating demands while remaining current with the latest technology and maintaining relevant skill sets within their industry.

Training programs for temporary administrative personnel include:

• MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Access (various versions)
• QuickBooks Pro 

Training programs for IT candidates offered through Pluralsight, an online skills development platform, include:

• Business Analysis
• Project Management
• Agile Transformation
• Scrum Master Skills
• Data Transformation
• C# Design Patterns

You can learn about our Privacy Policy here.

Timesheet reminder emails are released in batches at the following times: 

• Friday at 3:30 PM ET
• Monday at 11:00 AM and 2 PM ET
• Tuesday at 11 AM ET

Please note, you will not receive all of these emails. The number of emails you receive will vary depending on when the candidate submits their hours and when you approve them.

Creating a safe and healthy workplace is a shared responsibility that involves the employer and the worker. Outlined below are the roles and responsibilities of each.

The employer is responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. They must identify and assess potential hazards in the workplace and take steps to eliminate or control them. Employers should also provide training and education to their employees on safety measures, provide PPE when necessary and develop policies and procedures to ensure a safe work environment. 

The worker has a responsibility to follow safety procedures and use any provided PPE correctly. They should also report any unsafe conditions or incidents to their employer and cooperate with the employer to ensure a safe and healthy workplace. 

By working together, employers and workers can ensure that the workplace is free of risks and that everyone is protected.

While we’re retiring our Excel brand names, we’ll continue to offer the same great service to all Excel clients and candidates under our two, streamlined brand names—Altis Recruitment (encompasses and replaces excelHR) and Altis Technology (encompasses and replaces excelITR). Please note: 

• All Excel contracts and placements remain valid and intact for all clients and candidates.  
• Clients and candidates will receive the same exceptional service from our team.  
• We have worked with our clients’ Procurement teams to ensure uninterrupted service, and contract and payment processing.  

• Excel candidates will have the same timesheet and payment process, with the same candidate login (accessed through our new websites: www.altisrecruitment.com or www.altistechnology.com). 
• Candidates with security clearances will need to duplicate their clearance to reflect our new brand (check your email for instructions). Please see Candidate questions.

The timing of placements depends on what is required. In every case, we aim to place the right person the first time, rather than placing the first person who comes to mind. That said, we have built our reputation on being extremely responsive, fast, and effective.

Average turnaround time per specialty:

Temporary & contract positions

• Administrative & customer support positions: Resumes within 1–2 days 
• IT & professional services positions: Resumes within 3–5 days 

Permanent positions

• Administrative & customer support positions: Resumes within 2–3 days
• IT & professional services positions: Resumes within 3–5 days

Note: For temporary positions, we are able to accommodate urgent same-day requests and have a candidate selected, deployed and starting the assignment that day.

To help ensure candidates are paid on time, please approve timesheets by 3 p.m. ET on the first Monday following the applicable pay period:

• Monthly: First Monday of the following month
• Bi-weekly: First Monday after the billing cycle ends
• Weekly: First Monday of the following week

If you’ll be out of office, please ensure a back-up approver is available to review timesheets on your behalf.

Aside from our new logos, colours and two sleek, new websites—everything else remains pretty much the same for our clients. Rest assured, your same point of contact will still provide the same great service, and we’re here for you if you have any questions. 

• All your placements, contracts, standing offers and supply arrangements will remain intact. 
• We’ve contacted your Procurement team (and, where applicable, your contracting authority) to provide our new legal name and invoicing information, so your service, as well as contract and payment processing, will be uninterrupted.  
• And just a note about staying up to date with our company news: We’ll be deactivating our Excel LinkedIn pages, so please be sure to follow our Altis pages if you haven’t already: www.linkedin.com/company/altisrecruitment/ and www.linkedin.com/company/altistechnology/.  
• Tip: It’s a good way to learn about upcoming webinars, as well as company news and announcements.

Yes, we do test candidates based on the requirements of the role. If applicable, we will conduct a series of examinations to determine a candidate’s skill level in areas relevant to the role. We have standardized testing tools with over 800 tests available. We also offer customized testing through additional tools/systems upon request. 

Sample language tests:

• French/English bilingual interview held with a bilingual staff member
• French oral and written comprehension assessments
• Business letter writing and formatting
• Proofreading/grammar skills (in English and/or French)
• Written comprehension (English)

Sample basic technical tests:

• MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Access (multiple versions available)
• Windows Operating System (multiple versions available)

Sample administrative/clerical tests:

• Keyboarding speed and error rate (in English and/or French)
• Numeric and alphanumeric data entry speed and accuracy (in English and/or French)
• Attention to detail
• Business etiquette, writing samples, customer service skills

Sample professional services tests:

• Project management
• Advanced accounting, payroll, bookkeeping, and financial analysis
• PeopleSoft, QuickBooks, ADP
• Human resources, interviewing and hiring, benefits
• Purchasing, shipping and receiving, WHMIS
• Legal vocabulary, employment laws and acts, paralegal skills

Sample technical tests:

• All major software development languages
• Agile software development, MS Visio, MS Project, project management for IT professionals, MS SharePoint
• Database administration, network virtualization, Active Directory, SQL Server
• Service-oriented architecture, Amazon AWS
• Software quality assurance, software testing

You now have weekly, biweekly and monthly timesheet views available. The system defaults to a weekly view. However, you can use the dropdown menu on the right side of the timesheet to change this to a biweekly or monthly view. See below:

We’ve already emailed all candidates / contractors on assignment, as well as any candidate in our database who has an active file with us (i.e., activity over the past two years) but is not currently on assignment, telling them the following:  

• There’s no need to create a new profile with us.  
• Their credentials for our job portal and timesheet portal remain the same. To access these, they would visit either of our two new sites:  www.altisrecruitment.com or www.altistechnology.com. 
• If they’re on assignment, nothing changes to their current contract, and their pay will be uninterrupted. They will notice that all future bank deposits will come from ALTIS.  
• If they hold an active security clearance, they will need to duplicate it to ensure that all future placements are seamless. Their current security clearance remains valid until the duplicate is issued. We have communicated the steps required.  

If they want to remain connected to us on social, they should follow Altis Recruitment / Altis Technology, as our excelHR and excelITR LinkedIn pages will be deactivated.

Yes. An important part of our screening process is to validate the information provided by candidates. Based on the requirements of the role, we will conduct any of the following checks:

• Reference checks
• Background checks (education, employment, criminal, credit)
• Digital footprint verification
• Vulnerable sector screening
• Public sector security clearance validation

No, Altis and Excel were distinct businesses owned by our two co-founders, our CEO Kathryn Tremblay and her late business and life partner Toni Guimaraes, who passed away in 2016 from cancer.

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With one sole co-founder, we thought it made sense to amalgamate our businesses under one brand umbrella—Altis--while still servicing our specialized areas. Going forward, we’re excited to work as a team under two specialized, national brands: Altis Recruitment and Altis Technology. These brands will now encompass and replace our Excel brands and business.

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Looking ahead, we’re unified in our vision and united in offering all our clients the same incredible staffing experience by always combining business with humanity.

No, the company is still owned 100% by our CEO and Co-Founder, Kathryn Tremblay.

Our team members will still provide the same exceptional level of service under our two new streamlined brands: Altis Recruitment and Altis Technology. They might have a new email address, but they will be working for the same organization and servicing the same clients.

No, there is no change to our lines of business. We will continue to cover the same sectors and areas of specialization, serving clients and candidates in the private and public sectors nationwide—all under our two Altis brands: Altis Recruitment and Altis Technology.  

Going forward, we will continue to grow and evolve alongside Canada’s labour market to serve new niche areas as the opportunity arises, always under these two Altis brands.   

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No, as a remote-by-choice workplace, we already have staff located across Canada servicing clients from coast to coast.

No, while this brand update entails retiring the Excel name, we will continue to build and grow our business in Ottawa and all other regions of Canada—under two brand names, Altis Technology and Altis Recruitment. In terms of physical offices, we will maintain our locations in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

Yes, you will still receive the same great service from your same point(s) of contact. Note that your contact will have the same phone number and a NEW email address in this format: firstname.lastname@altis.com.

Our team has provided all clients with the required information to ensure the ongoing seamless delivery of service, contract and payment processing, most notably our new legal entity name, new EFT information and new HST number. However, we encourage you to check in with your accounts payable team to make sure they’ve received this information. It’s important for them to note: 

• All invoices for any current candidates on assignment will come from our new legal entity, Altis Recruitment Inc.  
• If they haven’t already done so, your AP team will need to update their system with our new HST number and new EFT information.

Our team has provided all clients with the required information to ensure ongoing seamless payment processing, including our new legal entity name, new EFT details and new HST number. However, we encourage you to check in with your accounts payable team to make sure they’ve received this information. It’s important for them to note: 

• All invoices for any current candidates on assignment will come from our new legal entity, Altis Recruitment Inc.  
• If they haven’t already done so, your AP team will need to update their system with our new HST number and new EFT information. 

Please contact us if you have questions: AR@altis.com

We have decided to maintain the Excel business number, but in doing so there is a suffix change. The Business Number for Altis Recruitment and Technology is now 119361004PG003.

We are able to maintain Excel's business number. The HST/Tax Number for Altis Recruitment and Technology is now 119361004RT0001

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The HST/Tax Number for Altis Recruitment and Technology is now 119361004RT0001.

The Business Number for Altis Recruitment and Technology is now 119361004PG003.

To ensure the ongoing seamless delivery of service, we’ve contacted the main contract authority at every client organization that has an active service agreement with us, providing important details about amending the agreement to reflect our new legal entity name. Aside from this update, there is no change to our service agreement. We will continue to provide the same exceptional service to your team. Questions? Please contact your account manager.