One of the bitter ironies of the Canadian job market is that, while our country desperately needs doctors and other skilled workers, many foreign-trained professionals who immigrate here can't find work in their field - and often wind up in low-paying, menial jobs. This labour disconnect represents a huge waste of human talent that must be addressed through a change in government policy - or at least a more enlightened approach toward the hiring of new immigrants by our major employers and professional groups. Either we need these skilled people in our multicultural society or we don't. And if we don't, we really shouldn't be letting them into Canada under what amounts to false pretenses.
But if we do need them - and there is strong evidence that we do - then we should to do more to help them find work. After all, this is not a new problem. Now, this does not mean babying foreign professionals or relieving them of their responsibility to upgrade their skills and become as fluent as possible in the English language. It does mean breaking down the petty, mean-spirited bureaucratic barriers that prevent them finding suitable work. As Province reporter Suzanne Fournier noted, Dr. Alfredo Tura, 35, who was trained mainly in Italy, had to work as a nurse in northern Vancouver Island for four years, just to stay in medicine. Many other foreign-trained doctors and social workers never find work for which they've been trained. And a new Statistics Canada study has found that the earning levels of new immigrants to B.C. haven't kept pace with their skill levels. It's time for the appropriate authorities to do something about this - and do it now.
