Recognizing Foreign Workers' Skills is Important

by Maria Cootauco, The Leader Post

Two plus two will equal four in Egypt, in Canada, in China - anywhere. The math is simple, but add to the equation the complications of being a foreign-trained worker performing the calculation and the answer is not so obvious. A Public Policy Forum sponsored by the Saskatchewan government touched down in Regina this week, seeking to open the discourse around the way that the skills and credentials of foreign-trained workers are recognized. In attendance were government, educational and private sector individuals. "We're hoping to have them formulate some policy recommendations and suggestions for changes," said Yves Poisson, the public policy forum's director of special projects. "Immigration represents a very important contribution to our workforce, and there is a lot of difficulties still for people which are internationally trained to have their credential and experience recognized in Canada."

The issue is an important one. According to Statistics Canada, by 2030, immigration will account for all of Canada's population growth. Sudanese-born Ercoph Bongomin's immigrant story starts out as any other. He came to Canada with the hopes of giving his family more opportunities. "I was convinced by my wife because of the children, the future, (to) come," he said. When Bongomin and his family arrived, he could not secure a position like the one he had in Cairo because his business degree was not recognized. After several months of job-hunting, he landed only two interviews. "After that, I went back to university," Bongomin said. Two years and one student loan later, Bongomin earned his bachelor's degree in business administration - for the second time. He quickly found a part-time job, and within a few months, was hired for a permanent full-time position. Bongomin now works for the City of Regina as an accounting clerk.

"What I'm doing right now, I should have been doing it five years ago ... when I first came here," he said. "It is frustrating and time-consuming and costly as well because now I have to carry a loan which if I came with my education and started working, I would be debt-free looking after my kids' education ... While my children are growing, I don't have any savings for them because I have to pay my debt. So the cycle seems to be (that) my kids have to go through a loan as well." Suggestions for areas of improvement were the order of the day at the forum. "First, (we need) to acknowledge that there is something to do," said Andre Gariepy, director general of Conseil Interprofessionnel du Quebec. "(Regulatory bodies) sure need to work together. Those that are responsible for employment, those that are responsible for education and immigration, they need to work collaboratively because they are all responsible for a part of the sequence for the process of integration."

Foreign doctors flop Canadian Tests

By Vivian Song

It's become a cross-country catchphrase used to illustrate how Canada squanders valuable minds and skills during a growing doctor shortage. While an estimated five million Canadians are without a family physician, foreign-trained doctors are driving cabs - or so the saying goes. Another adage: "Instead of delivering babies, foreign-trained doctors are delivering pizzas." But speak to some key players who help test, certify and license international medical graduates, or IMGs as they're called in the medical industry, and they offer another side of the story that's seldom talked about. "That's a sweeping generalization of the ignorant that they're all driving cabs," said Robert Lee, director of the Medical Council of Canada's evaluation bureau operations. "Some of them are driving cabs because they don't pass the level of standard in Canada ... Just because we need more doctors doesn't mean we should lower our standards."

The Medical Council administers standardized qualifying exams that all Canadian medical students across the country must sit. Foreign-trained doctors must write an additional basic Evaluating Exam before being able to join their Canadian counterparts in writing two final qualifying exams. And the failure rate of foreign-trained doctors is significant, Lee said. "People always talk about the underutilization of IMGs," he said. "Nobody ever talks about them being underqualified ... the problem is not that we're not getting them into the system; the problem is they're flopping out." On average, about 3,000 international medical graduates write the Evaluating Exam every year. Between 2001 and 2006, the failure rate of first-time takers was about 35% and many within that cohort are repeat writers, Lee said. Next, the remaining 65% of successful candidates go on to write Qualifying Exam Part I along with their Canadian competition - an exam set at the level of a graduating MD, ready to enter their residency or supervised internship.

Between 2001 and 2005, 34% of first-time IMG takers failed that exam. Annually, the council tests about 4,000 to 4,500 candidates including Canadian students. A breakdown detailing the number of IMGs in the group is unavailable. Once candidates have completed a minimum one-year residency training, they are able to sit the final MCC exam, Qualifying Part II. The failure rate for first-time IMGs between 2000 and 2005 was another 40%. What does that leave? "Not a lot," Lee said. "The number's not huge." When pressed, Lee refuses to divulge the final number of foreign-trained doctors who actually make it through the funnelling system which weeds out those who can't hack it. "I don't publish that mother of all stats," he said. By contrast, Canadian students pass the exams at about 97%, Lee said. But in a candid conversation with Sun Media, Lee minced no words when discussing the mantra adopted nationwide of doctors driving cabs. "There's a misbelief that any doctor from anywhere in the world should be able to come here and two days later be able to practise in Canada and that's not the case," he said. "And thank God it's not, because the quality of health care would be all over the map." The Medical Council of Canada is one of several different ways international doctors can get licensure and the most standardized. According to the Associaton of International Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the province is home to between 2,000 and 4,000 foreign-trained physicians. British Columbia is said to have had at least 400 unlicensed IMGs in 2001, while Alberta was home to 160. "There are so many numbers tossed around. No one knows what the real number is," said Rita Forte, project director of an IMG database at CAPER, the Canadian Post-M.D. Education Registry.

Program to help International Grads find Work

By Davene Jeffrey

Many international students looking for Nova Scotia jobs face institutionalized racism, says a Kenyan national. The province announced a new program to streamline the immigration process for international student graduates at a news conference at Dalhousie University Tuesday. "It is important to recognize that (racism exists) and to make sure the program is fair," said Eunice Abaga, a Dal graduate and policy analyst with the provincial Health Department. She knows of six international graduates who tried to get jobs in the province – three of them were blacks from African countries. Those three were all asked by potential employers whether they were allowed to work in Canada. "The other set were not asked this question," Ms. Abaga said. She graduated with a degree in public administration from Dalhousie University in 2002 and started looking for work. Her first two job offers she lost, when she told potential employers she had to wait six weeks to get a work visa.

"If there is a way that graduate students can be issued with even a short-term work permit, it would be easier to find a job," she said. Nova Scotia is actively trying to attract immigrants to the province. "We are an aging province and we need young people," Elizabeth Mills, executive director of the province’s Office of Immigration, told the press conference Tuesday. Her staff has been meeting with employers around the province discussing the process of hiring and supporting immigrant workers. Under the program, the Office of Immigration will nominate students for permanent resident status to the federally-run Citizenship and Immigration Canada. To apply to the program, applicants must meet several requirements: be between 21 and 55 years of age, have graduated within the past two years from a post-secondary Nova Scotia institution, want to stay in Nova Scotia and have worked at least for three months with an employer who is offering them a full-time, permanent job.

"It’s a good program, but not for researchers," says Sajjad Hussain, president of Dalhousie’s international student society and a second-year science student. "It will solve many problems for graduate students who are very focused on getting a job in a practical environment," Mr. Hussain said. Graduates who are involved in research work and those working in academia tend to go from contract to contract, and applying as skilled workers may be the way to go, he said. Nova Scotia created its Office of Immigration in 2005 to attract and retain immigrants. It also nominates immigrants for permanent residency through four other programs: skilled workers with permanent, full-time job offers; people with long-established ties to a Nova Scotia community and people with a job offer from a family member who owns a business here. A fifth stream for those with a minimum six-month work contract is currently on hold and being redesigned, the conference was told. By 2010, the office wants to increase the yearly number of immigrants to the province to 3,600, with a retention rate of 70 per cent, Ms. Mills said. According to figures presented at the conference, 1,474 immigrants came to Nova Scotia in 2000. That number rose to 2,600 last year. At any given time, there are approximately 3,600 foreign students attending Nova Scotia universities and colleges, Ms. Mills said. Based on similar programs operating in other provinces, Nova Scotia will likely keep between five to 10 per cent of its foreign students, she said. Under the current agreement with Ottawa, Nova Scotia can nominate 400 people for permanent residency. The province hopes to lift that barrier when it enters into renegotiations in August, Ms. Mills said.

Immigrants are Canada's future

Barriers keeping skilled immigrants among the ranks of the unemployed and underemployed could very well halt future economic prosperity in Brampton and Canada. To its credit, the Brampton Board of Trade is sounding the alarm well in advance of hitting that wall and attempting to help local business operators steer clear. The board recently launched its Employers' Resource Guide to raise awareness about the deep pool of skilled immigrants in our community and the resources that exist to help employers reach that talent. Its contents might be invaluable in Brampton where more than 40 per cent of residents were born in another land. The publication includes information about job placement services, language and accreditation programs, co-op and internship programs, wage subsidies and mentorship programs that assist both employers and job seekers.

The guide is part of the board's Skills Without Borders project. Surveys and a series of focus groups with employers in Brampton and Caledon gathered insight about the barriers to hiring skilled immigrants. About 76 per cent of the employers surveyed indicated a shortage of applicants with appropriate skills, qualifications, licenses or experience. Language skills, difficulty assessing foreign education and credentials, lack of Canadian experience and cultural integration were identified as significant obstacles in the hiring process. Some employers want immigrants to cultivate a better understanding of expectations and business practices in the Canadian workplace. There is an expectation in the workplace that Canadian newcomers make an effort to integrate socially and professionally. But that door swings both ways, as Board of Trade CEO Sheldon Leiba pointed out. Immigrant workers are mainly responsible for the growth of Canada's current workforce. In a few years homegrown workers will not be enough to generate labour force growth.

Low birth rate: With Canada's baby boomer generation headed for retirement and a low national birth rate, by 2011 immigrants will be solely responsible for increasing the nation's labour force. Employers must come to grips with the reality that economic survival will hinge on immigrant workers and consumers. Their prosperity is closely tied to our own. By 2026, immigrants are expected to account for all Canada's population growth. For the first time since 1980, Ontario's third-quarter population increase was below the national average, according to Statistics Canada. Without the benefit of the nation's highest immigration rate, Ontario would have experienced a net loss in population. Our landscape is changing and good business sense demands employers adapt. To remain viable and competitive, employers must tap into the changing workforce that is expected to drive our economy in the future. Those not willing or unable to change will likely fall by the wayside.