by LAURA RAMSAY at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Mohammad Yaser's story is a familiar tale of immigrant employment woe. Certified as a civil engineer in his native Pakistan, Mr. Yaser worked for six years there as a manager responsible for pricing and sourcing supplies and estimating job costs for a large construction company. But since immigrating to Toronto in January, 2004, the married father of two young children has been working as a security guard at a warehouse, unable to leverage his international education and work experience into a construction management job in Canada. "The problem seems to be that I have no Canadian education or experience," he says. Mr. Yaser's frustration at being unable to find work in the field he trained for is increasingly paralleled by concern among Canadian employers who are not able to find enough professionals and skilled tradespeople to staff their businesses.
Canada's community colleges are trying to tackle both problems by launching programs aimed at helping immigrant professionals and skilled workers find jobs here in fields related to what they were trained for overseas. Canada's immigration system has traditionally been "an elitist one" that gives priority to doctors and lawyers without addressing the skills shortage that is developing across all skill sectors and all parts of the country, says Gerry Brown, president of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. The average age of a skilled worker in Canada is more than 50, and more than 40 per cent of the work force is expected to retire in the next 10 years. Helping trained immigrants find appropriate jobs in Canada is one component of addressing the problem, he says. Mr. Yaser is hoping a new course being launched in January by Toronto's George Brown College will give him the domestic credentials he needs to get back into the construction business.
The course, Construction Management for Internationally Educated Professionals, is a three-semester, postgraduate program designed to help new immigrants who were trained elsewhere as architects and engineers to develop the language and workplace skills needed to land entry-level management jobs in the Canadian construction industry. Mr. Yaser will be one of about 27 students in the new program. "This is a great opportunity for me," he says. The program doesn't attempt to certify new immigrants as either architects or engineers, both of which are regulated by professional bodies that set the rules for foreign-trained professionals, says project manager Suzanne Kavanagh. The goal is to help immigrant professionals land their first job in a construction-related field by "Canadianizing" them - teaching them about Canadian building codes, Canadian building materials as well as labour laws, human rights legislation and health and safety requirements.
As they get closer to graduation, the students will focus on interviewing techniques and workplace skills, Ms. Kavanagh says. "These are very capable people but they need to build up their confidence and familiarity with Canadian industry," she says. Poor English is the primary barrier preventing skilled immigrants from landing relevant construction-management jobs, she says. Technically qualified students whose English skills are not at the level required for college admission can take a career-specific language course that begins next month. It focuses on the vocabulary and concepts specific to the construction industry, Ms. Kavanagh says. Canadian colleges are also going abroad to assist new immigrants. Next month the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) will launch a program designed to help smooth the employment path for professional, trade and technical specialists from China, India and the Philippines who have already been approved by Ottawa to immigrate to Canada. Those three countries were selected as test sites because of immigration patterns and the type of skilled workers they produce, says Katrina Murray, project director of the Canadian Immigration Integration Project, which is financed with $4-million from Human Resources Development Canada.
Ms. Murray says the ACCC program is designed to help skilled immigrants make a career transition to Canada and get a jump on the acclimatization process. "The major goal of the program is to ensure they have a more realistic understanding of what they are getting into," she says. Information about the pilot project will be mailed along with the letter that Citizenship and Immigration Canada sends to people informing them they've been approved as immigrants. Free information sessions are to be held in the three test countries, and immigrants will be grouped according to what province they're moving to (about 60 per cent typically head to Ontario). They'll hear an overview of labour market conditions, labour laws and other information relevant to working in Canada, Ms. Murray says. After identifying gaps in work skills, the program helps find ways to address them such as providing a referral to language assessment services or links to the governing bodies of professional associations. Mr. Yaser isn't thinking at this point about recertifying as an engineer. He's just looking forward to landing a job back in the project management field. "I'd like to find something in Toronto, or maybe Alberta. I hear there are many places hiring in Alberta."
Mohammad Yaser's story is a familiar tale of immigrant employment woe. Certified as a civil engineer in his native Pakistan, Mr. Yaser worked for six years there as a manager responsible for pricing and sourcing supplies and estimating job costs for a large construction company. But since immigrating to Toronto in January, 2004, the married father of two young children has been working as a security guard at a warehouse, unable to leverage his international education and work experience into a construction management job in Canada. "The problem seems to be that I have no Canadian education or experience," he says. Mr. Yaser's frustration at being unable to find work in the field he trained for is increasingly paralleled by concern among Canadian employers who are not able to find enough professionals and skilled tradespeople to staff their businesses.
Canada's community colleges are trying to tackle both problems by launching programs aimed at helping immigrant professionals and skilled workers find jobs here in fields related to what they were trained for overseas. Canada's immigration system has traditionally been "an elitist one" that gives priority to doctors and lawyers without addressing the skills shortage that is developing across all skill sectors and all parts of the country, says Gerry Brown, president of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. The average age of a skilled worker in Canada is more than 50, and more than 40 per cent of the work force is expected to retire in the next 10 years. Helping trained immigrants find appropriate jobs in Canada is one component of addressing the problem, he says. Mr. Yaser is hoping a new course being launched in January by Toronto's George Brown College will give him the domestic credentials he needs to get back into the construction business.
The course, Construction Management for Internationally Educated Professionals, is a three-semester, postgraduate program designed to help new immigrants who were trained elsewhere as architects and engineers to develop the language and workplace skills needed to land entry-level management jobs in the Canadian construction industry. Mr. Yaser will be one of about 27 students in the new program. "This is a great opportunity for me," he says. The program doesn't attempt to certify new immigrants as either architects or engineers, both of which are regulated by professional bodies that set the rules for foreign-trained professionals, says project manager Suzanne Kavanagh. The goal is to help immigrant professionals land their first job in a construction-related field by "Canadianizing" them - teaching them about Canadian building codes, Canadian building materials as well as labour laws, human rights legislation and health and safety requirements.
As they get closer to graduation, the students will focus on interviewing techniques and workplace skills, Ms. Kavanagh says. "These are very capable people but they need to build up their confidence and familiarity with Canadian industry," she says. Poor English is the primary barrier preventing skilled immigrants from landing relevant construction-management jobs, she says. Technically qualified students whose English skills are not at the level required for college admission can take a career-specific language course that begins next month. It focuses on the vocabulary and concepts specific to the construction industry, Ms. Kavanagh says. Canadian colleges are also going abroad to assist new immigrants. Next month the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) will launch a program designed to help smooth the employment path for professional, trade and technical specialists from China, India and the Philippines who have already been approved by Ottawa to immigrate to Canada. Those three countries were selected as test sites because of immigration patterns and the type of skilled workers they produce, says Katrina Murray, project director of the Canadian Immigration Integration Project, which is financed with $4-million from Human Resources Development Canada.
Ms. Murray says the ACCC program is designed to help skilled immigrants make a career transition to Canada and get a jump on the acclimatization process. "The major goal of the program is to ensure they have a more realistic understanding of what they are getting into," she says. Information about the pilot project will be mailed along with the letter that Citizenship and Immigration Canada sends to people informing them they've been approved as immigrants. Free information sessions are to be held in the three test countries, and immigrants will be grouped according to what province they're moving to (about 60 per cent typically head to Ontario). They'll hear an overview of labour market conditions, labour laws and other information relevant to working in Canada, Ms. Murray says. After identifying gaps in work skills, the program helps find ways to address them such as providing a referral to language assessment services or links to the governing bodies of professional associations. Mr. Yaser isn't thinking at this point about recertifying as an engineer. He's just looking forward to landing a job back in the project management field. "I'd like to find something in Toronto, or maybe Alberta. I hear there are many places hiring in Alberta."
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