How Far Will Canada Go to Help Newcomers Integrate Into the Workforce?

You were lured to Canada by Canadian immigration officers who’s promise of lucrative career opportunities and a better life abroad were all to seductive to pass up. As a highly educated professional in your native country you are well respected, your salary allows you to live in a big house, feed and educate your children, and enjoy the social status that comes along with it. But these immigration officers advise you that your credentials automatically qualify you for entry into Canada. Where you can find a job in your field for 10 times as much as what you could make in your country. Your decision is easy. After spending ,000 for a ticket, application fees, and money in the bank, you’re finally ready to start your new life abroad. Leaving your wife and kids behind may not have been easy, but you know that in 1 year you will be settled in Canada with your 6-figure income and your three-story mansion on the hill with your family. After a long journey you arrive in Canada your credentials in tow, you anxiously begin your job search only to find out the credentials that you obtained outside of Canada do not meet Canadian qualifications and the only work you can get is driving a cab or working in the labour market.

Many newcomers have been mislead by the Canadian government into immigrating to Canada with the hopes of a better life. The Foreign Credential Assessment Office established a year ago offers hope for highly skilled immigrants to get their credentials recognized in order to utilize their skills. Though this program is long over due, it is a big step toward acknowledging the issues of foreign professionals working in our labour market.

The continued problems with racial discrimination in the work place have yet to be addressed.

With Canada’s so called “ job shortage” will companies now hire these skilled immigrants once there credentials meet their standards? Or will they continue to hire foreign temporary workers for inexpensive labour? Here are 4 reasons why companies might be reluctant to hire these immigrants once their credentials are recognized:

Highly skilled immigrants may be viewed as a threat to locals

Highly skilled immigrants could take jobs

Highly skilled immigrants will hire more highly skilled immigrants

Locals could lose their jobs.

There are many good candidates that are not being hired simply because of racial discrimination. Immigrants are often more educated than local Canadians, but a Canadian born worker with less education is more likely to make more money. Some immigrants are told they are over qualified for a job or do not have sufficient Canadian experience for the position. This is also an issue common for non-white Canadians born in Canada. In order to guarantee the equal employment opportunities of skilled immigrants, a sufficient anti racial legislation needs to be implemented using methods that encourage interracial cooperation. Discrimination in Canada can be combated in the following ways:

Equal exposure of minorities in media

Cultural awareness programs and knowledge in work, school, and media

A fair representation of minorities in media at all times

Images in media portraying white as dominant, should be considered discriminatory

Newcomers to Canada will benefit from the Foreign Credential Assessment process. However, further information is required for prospective newcomers to understand the barriers of finding a job in their field. Overseas services are also available to further assist perspective newcomers before settling in Canada. As we already know the Canadian government is not always forthcoming about their true motives, be sure to do a lot of research, and ask a lot of questions.

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A record level of newcomers were admitted to Canada in 2008, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced yesterday to a conference geared toward helping more immigrants land jobs in their professions.

“We welcomed an unprecedented 519,722 newcomers to Canada in 2008, the largest number in Canada’s history,” Kenney said. “This number includes over 247,000 permanent residents, 143,000 temporary foreign workers and over 79,000 foreign students.”

Kenney was speaking at the Progress Career Planning Institute’s Internationally Educated Professionals conference yesterday, an event that drew about 1,100 immigrants and new Canadians to Toronto to network and strategize about how to overcome barriers to employment in their fields.

Many of the participants, including trained engineers, doctors, accountants and other professionals trained in their native countries, spoke about the hardships they face in trying to resume their careers in Canada.

Kenney said the federal government is working to ease the transition process for skilled immigrant workers. He referenced the prime minister’s recently announced plan to build a national framework for foreign credential recognition – which Kenney said will hopefully ease the red tape and provide more clarity for skilled immigrants.

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