by CANADIAN PRESS
Most skilled immigrants would get accredited to work in their field before they move to Canada and foreign-trained doctors would be able to perform basic services under a plan unveiled today by Ontario’s Opposition Conservatives. Conservative Leader John Tory said the program would allow skilled immigrants to start working on their Canadian accreditation while they are outside the country, waiting for their visa applications to be processed. The province is facing a labour shortage and needs to better harness the knowledge of newcomers, Tory said at a campaign-style event that suggests the Conservatives are aggressively planning their strategy for next year’s provincial election. “The status quo is unacceptable,” Tory said. “This is a serious problem both because we’re badly letting these people down and short-changing them. We need, as part of building a strong economy, to make full use of the talents these people brought with them to Canada.”
While not all professions could be fully accredited before an immigrant arrives in Canada, Tory said foreign-trained doctors could gain more experience by doing basic medical services under the supervision of a qualified doctor. The government could also expand the provincial student loans program to include new Canadians who want to go back to school, he added. The whole plan would cost about $26 million, Tory said. “We have permitted far too many people who we invite to come to Canada to become marginalized,” Tory said. “We must not let that become some sort of permanent fact of life.” Mike Colle, Ontario’s minister of citizenship and immigration, said he was pleasantly surprised to hear the Conservatives talk about the plight of immigrants. “I’m glad to see the party that was bashing immigrants for the last 50 years is finally recognizing that they should be given a fair chance,” Colle said. Colle said the Liberal government is working to dismantle the barriers facing new Canadians, citing as an example a new Liberal bill that would require Ontario’s 34 regulated professions to ensure their licensing process is fair.
If passed, the legislation would also be require those professions to assess credentials more quickly, said Colle, who expressed doubt that the Conservative plan would work. “If we can’t get the accreditation done here, I don’t know how they’re going to do it overseas,” Colle said. “It’s like putting the cart before the horse.” New Canadians, meanwhile, agree something has to change. It took Tarek Zaid, a biochemist from the United Arab Emirates, three years to immigrate to Canada. Once here, Zaid said he found his 15 years of experience meant very little. If he had known the hurdles he would face, Zaid said he wouldn’t have come to Canada. “The processing is too much,” he said. Homa Nikmanesh was a chemistry teacher in Iran for over a decade but found herself working as a cleaning lady in Canada while her chemical engineer husband worked as a general labourer. They now own a successful chain of optical stores. But she said the government should do a better job of informing people about credential requirements before they immigrate to Canada. If people knew they had to wait for years to work in their field, Nikmanesh said they might think twice. “They may refuse to come here.”
The government has already established a program which allows foreign-trained doctors to shadow qualified doctors, Colle added. The Liberals have poured money into helping new Canadians acclimatize, Colle said. Whether you do accreditation before they come here or not, there are still 150,000 people who come to Ontario every year,” he said. “There’s always a process of getting people acclimatized to the conditions here and that takes money and resources.” But New Democrat critic Peter Tabuns said both the federal and provincial government have waited far too long to help those doctors and engineers who find themselves driving taxi cabs in Canada. The government should be putting more money into English-as-a-second-language programs and should be honest with prospective immigrants before they try to come to Canada, he added. “This problem has been going on for over half a century,” Tabuns said. “We’re coming at it very late in the game. Right now, we need to have action taken that will make a big difference.”
Most skilled immigrants would get accredited to work in their field before they move to Canada and foreign-trained doctors would be able to perform basic services under a plan unveiled today by Ontario’s Opposition Conservatives. Conservative Leader John Tory said the program would allow skilled immigrants to start working on their Canadian accreditation while they are outside the country, waiting for their visa applications to be processed. The province is facing a labour shortage and needs to better harness the knowledge of newcomers, Tory said at a campaign-style event that suggests the Conservatives are aggressively planning their strategy for next year’s provincial election. “The status quo is unacceptable,” Tory said. “This is a serious problem both because we’re badly letting these people down and short-changing them. We need, as part of building a strong economy, to make full use of the talents these people brought with them to Canada.”
While not all professions could be fully accredited before an immigrant arrives in Canada, Tory said foreign-trained doctors could gain more experience by doing basic medical services under the supervision of a qualified doctor. The government could also expand the provincial student loans program to include new Canadians who want to go back to school, he added. The whole plan would cost about $26 million, Tory said. “We have permitted far too many people who we invite to come to Canada to become marginalized,” Tory said. “We must not let that become some sort of permanent fact of life.” Mike Colle, Ontario’s minister of citizenship and immigration, said he was pleasantly surprised to hear the Conservatives talk about the plight of immigrants. “I’m glad to see the party that was bashing immigrants for the last 50 years is finally recognizing that they should be given a fair chance,” Colle said. Colle said the Liberal government is working to dismantle the barriers facing new Canadians, citing as an example a new Liberal bill that would require Ontario’s 34 regulated professions to ensure their licensing process is fair.
If passed, the legislation would also be require those professions to assess credentials more quickly, said Colle, who expressed doubt that the Conservative plan would work. “If we can’t get the accreditation done here, I don’t know how they’re going to do it overseas,” Colle said. “It’s like putting the cart before the horse.” New Canadians, meanwhile, agree something has to change. It took Tarek Zaid, a biochemist from the United Arab Emirates, three years to immigrate to Canada. Once here, Zaid said he found his 15 years of experience meant very little. If he had known the hurdles he would face, Zaid said he wouldn’t have come to Canada. “The processing is too much,” he said. Homa Nikmanesh was a chemistry teacher in Iran for over a decade but found herself working as a cleaning lady in Canada while her chemical engineer husband worked as a general labourer. They now own a successful chain of optical stores. But she said the government should do a better job of informing people about credential requirements before they immigrate to Canada. If people knew they had to wait for years to work in their field, Nikmanesh said they might think twice. “They may refuse to come here.”
The government has already established a program which allows foreign-trained doctors to shadow qualified doctors, Colle added. The Liberals have poured money into helping new Canadians acclimatize, Colle said. Whether you do accreditation before they come here or not, there are still 150,000 people who come to Ontario every year,” he said. “There’s always a process of getting people acclimatized to the conditions here and that takes money and resources.” But New Democrat critic Peter Tabuns said both the federal and provincial government have waited far too long to help those doctors and engineers who find themselves driving taxi cabs in Canada. The government should be putting more money into English-as-a-second-language programs and should be honest with prospective immigrants before they try to come to Canada, he added. “This problem has been going on for over half a century,” Tabuns said. “We’re coming at it very late in the game. Right now, we need to have action taken that will make a big difference.”
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