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JIAS CANADA'S SUBMISSION TO THE PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION RE: FOREIGN ACCREDITATION On April 4th, Mira Thow, a member of the JIAS Canada Board and Chair of our Advocacy and Legislation Sub-Committee, appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Immigration to discuss the recognition of foreign credentials. Below is part of the text of our submission presented to the Committee. "Recognition of the International Experience and Credentials of Immigrants The majority of the new immigrants that JIAS currently assists are applicants who qualified to come to Canada as skilled workers primarily from countries in the former Soviet Union and Argentina. Many of these immigrants possess bachelor or master’s degrees and were employed in highly skilled occupations in the fields of science and engineering, health and education and managerial positions in their home countries; however, they are unable to find similar work in Canada and are often under-employed in comparison to their level of education and experience. It has been our experience that the barriers immigrants face in finding employment in Canada are threefold. First, Canadian employers do not recognize the foreign education and experience of new immigrants and have no effective way of evaluating their credentials. Second, it is often difficult for immigrants to obtain licenses in those professions and trades where licensing is required, and thirdly, employers often look for Canadian experience to determine whether the immigrant’s skills are transferable to the local context. There are a number of things that the federal government can do to assist immigrants to obtain employment within their field of expertise in the Canadian labour market including: · Establish a national body that would provide information and advise on the comparability of overseas qualifications including educational assessments. This national organization would provide financial incentives and services to employers, professional associations, licensing bodies and academic institutions to encourage and assist them in setting up customized programs to evaluate foreign credentials. Such national organizations have been established in Australia, the United States and the European Union to address foreign credential and skills evaluation; · Establish or subsidize training programs in occupational areas where immigrant skills are lacking or require upgrading; and · Promote workplace internships by providing financial subsidies to employers to encourage more on-the-job training and mentoring opportunities. Thank you for your attention.
Presented by
Mira Thow, Member, Board of Directors
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