Stephen Harper to pledge funds to help new Canadians find work in their field

2015/08/28 Leave a comment

Relatively few citizenship and immigration related announcements so far in the campaign. This recycled and possible expanded one from the Conservatives:

CBC News has learned that Harper will visit a Markham, Ont., manufacturing plant, where he will announce new money for the Foreign Credential Recognition Loan program.

The federal government introduced the program in 2011 as a pilot project. It was made permanent just this year, when the budget put aside $35 million for it over five years. Today’s announcement is expected to add even more money to the program.

According to the government, 36 per cent of new Canadians face financial barriers in getting their foreign credentials recognized. The costs range from $100 to $25,000, and can include paying for retraining or recertification exams.

Professionals affected range from physicians to those who work in the Red Seal trades, which include dozens of professions that have a set of nationally recognized standards, such as electricians, engineers and plumbers.

Source: Stephen Harper to pledge funds to help new Canadians find work in their field – Politics – CBC News

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Immigrant nurses face new hurdles with Ontario’s licensing changes

2014/11/13 Leave a comment

Another example of foreign credential recognition challenges. Given that the certification  is test scenario-based, expect that the main challenge is not technical but contextual and related to how one interacts with patients and colleagues.

But the lack of appropriate training and feedback should be addressed:

The report, released this summer, found that “some internationally educated applicants do not receive adequate explanation about their shortcomings on the OSCE.” And since there are no appeals or repeat tests allowed, “it leaves applicants with no option but to proceed to bridging education if they wish to continue with their RN application,” the report says.

“It is unclear why, regardless of the number of gaps identified in the OSCE, applicants who want to proceed with their RN application must take an entire bridging program. There is no sound justification for the ‘one size fits all’ approach.”

The college said it brought in the OSCE test for foreign RN applicants because it is an objective tool to evaluate competencies.“

It is not an ‘exam’ in the usual sense of the world. It is a holistic assessment of the applicant’s knowledge and experience. . . . They come out of it with a better understanding of which missing competencies they need to address,” said Clarke.

“It’s like getting a second opinion about how well an applicant’s education and experience match the competencies required of a nurse in Ontario.”

Immigrant nurses face new hurdles with Ontario’s licensing changes | Toronto Star.

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Skilled immigrants face hurdles in finding jobs, government report says

2014/09/11 Leave a comment

More on foreign credential recognition and some of the barriers, some legitimate (i.e., Chinese legal training and experience does not prepare one to practice in Canada), others, such as Canadian experience, are more of a grey area.

The challenge of learning the culture and language of general social interactions likely takes some time:

The participants — including doctors, pharmacists and engineers — said language barriers and requirements for Canadian experience on some job postings pose the biggest problems.

They said they suspected that Canadian experience requirements were “a coded way for employers to favour the Canadian-born,” the report said.

The participants also pointed to a lack of Canadian connections or networks and “difficulty in general social interactions due to language and cultural differences.”

The participants didn’t feel the issue of formal recognition of credentials was a major barrier to employment. There were also differences of opinion on the value of foreign credentials, depending on the participants country of origin.

“Many Chinese participants believe their training and work experience from China are of limited use in Canada because they feel that everything in China is so radically different from Canada that there is no way it could be applicable,” the report read.

“It was noted that a law degree from China in no way prepares anyone to practise law in Canada.”

A spokesman for Employment Minister Jason Kenney said the government commissioned the study in order to determine why skilled immigrants had trouble finding work. He added that the Tories plan to unveil initiatives soon aimed at tackling the problems.

“It’s a big priority for the fall,” said Nick Koolsbergen.

Skilled immigrants face hurdles in finding jobs, government report says – Politics – CBC News.

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