Announcement of Foreign Credentials Referral Office

Engineers Canada welcomes the Government of Canada's commitment to improving employment outcomes for foreign trained professionals through the creation of the new Foreign Credential ReferralOffice. "We are ready to work with the federal government to help make the new office successful as we have found through our research that complete, accurate and early information and referrals are key to successful settlement," says Marie Lemay, P.Eng., Chief Executive Officer of EngineersCanada. "A single, central source of information is crucial to an immigrant's success." Engineers Canada and its members have significant experience working with international engineering graduates (IEGs). In 2001, of the 44 percent of skilled workers who identified an intended occupation at the time of immigration, 63 percent indicated engineering. Engineers Canada and its provincial and territorial licensing bodies have made substantial progress in helping integrate IEGs through the licensing process. The effort began with From Consideration to Integration (FC2I), a three-phase HRSDC-funded initiative designed to integrate IEGs into the Canadian profession and workforce without compromising public safety or lowering professional standards. Engineers Canada and the provincial and territorial licensing bodies are now implementing FC2I's recommendations.

Among the accomplishments of FC2I has been the creation of the International Institutions and Degrees Database (IIDD), to provide an accurate, current database of recognized international engineering degrees in progress; the Internationally-Educated Engineers Qualification (IEEQ) programat the University of Manitoba, to assist IEGs in meeting qualifications requirements; and the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers language project, to develop appropriate language benchmarks for newcomers for use in engineering workplaces, courses and bridging programs. Engineers Canada supports the creation of the FCR office as another tool to assist IEGs. We are looking forward to working with the government as they develop their overseas strategy. In that context, we believe that:* educational qualifications of IEGs should be assessed by licensing bodies for Canadian equivalency as early as possible in the immigration and settlement process* the agency must not duplicate processes already in place * the agency should respect provincial and territorial jurisdictions and work with the licensing bodies to link assessments to licensure"We look forward to the government offering a single source resource to potential immigrants so that they can make informed decisions prior to immigrating to Canada," says Lemay.

For further information: Marc Bourgeois, Director of Communications, Engineers Canada, (613) 868-0267

Broken Promise on Foreign Credentials Recognition

The Conservative government's growing list of broken election promises expanded today with the scrapping of its plan for a Canadian Agency for Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Credentials, Liberal Citizenship and Immigration Critic Omar Alghabra said today. "With today's announcement, the Conservative government has broken a key election promise to new Canadians, converting their proposed foreign credentials agency into a referral office that will do nothing more than refer new Canadians to the provincial offices that have always recognized foreign credentials," said Mr. Alghabra. "This referral office will only duplicate the work of the In-Canada Portal, which was established by the previous Liberal government," added Mr. Alghabra. During the 2006 Election, the Conservative government promised to "create an agency for the assessment and recognition of credentials, to provide pre-assessment of foreign credentials and experience," but over a year later have now decided to downgrade this agency to a referral office at Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

"Even worse, this announcement is geared only towards potential immigrants currently outside of Canada. It does absolutely nothing for the tens of thousands of people who have already made their way to Canada, many of whom are now citizens, who are trained but cannot get their credentials recognized," said Mr. Alghabra. Statistics Canada has recently confirmed that our labour and population growth will soon depend exclusively on immigration, so ensuring the successful integration of immigrants is essential for the future success of Canada. "The Conservatives lack of a real plan ignores one of the most important challenges our country will face in the coming years," said Mr. Alghabra. "Unless we can rationalize the process for recognizing foreign credentials for professions and skilled labour we run the risk of ongoing labour shortages in critical areas like healthcare and construction." In April 2005, the previous Liberal government announced a commitment of $263 million to launch the Internationally-Trained Workers Initiative, to improve the integration of immigrants and internationally-trained Canadians into the work force. This plan was an important step in tackling the foreign credential recognition challenge. "It is a shame that this narrow minded Conservative government does not understand the tremendous opportunity to the Canadian economy that addressing the foreign credentials recognition challenge presents," said Mr. Alghabra.

Help for foreign professionals for accredition

by: Merita Ilo

Ajay Raukela is one of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who arrive in Canada every year hoping to be able to work in their professions. The 36-year-old mechanical engineer, who quit his job as deputy-general manager at an automotive plant in India last month before coming to Canada, said he has been unable to find out where "good jobs" are advertised in this country. "The best job I've been offered, that's somewhat related to what I used to do, is at a car shop . . . to change oil," he said. It is people like Raukela that the government hopes to help through the Foreign Credentials Referral Office - a new project that promises to help foreign-trained professionals have their credentials assessed and recognized even before they arrive in the country. "Too often I run into people who spent two to three years waiting to come to Canada," said Diane Finley, the minister of citizenship and immigration who announced the new project Thursday in Toronto. "Then they come here and it takes them two years to find out where to get their credentials assessed . . . then they find out they have to go to school for two years, by which time they can't afford it," she said. The project, which is expected to cost the government $32.2 million in the first five years, will help newcomers "navigate through the complex system of foreign credential recognition," Finley said.

The RFCO's branch offices have opened in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax and Winnipeg and the government plans to have them up and running at 320 locations across the country by fall 2007. In an effort to attract foreign skilled workers the government has opened similar offices in China, India and the Philippines - a pilot project that Finley said might be expanded if results are positive. The services offered at the RFCO's offices include in-person and online information to perspective immigrants on how to get their credentials recognized, as well as detailed information on Canada's labour market and job availability. A new website - www.credentials.gc.ca - and a new search engine called "Working in Canada" have been set up to help newcomers identify occupations for which they might be qualified. The website lists all regulatory bodies in charge of recognizing those credentials as well as information on foreign affiliates of Canadian post-secondary institutions where newcomers can get their credentials assessed before they come to the country. Service Canada will also provide information to immigrants already in Canada by telephone at 1-888-854-1805.

Finley also announced $18.8 million over the next four years in federal funding for several provinces to enhance their online information about settling and working across the country. Ontario, which receives more than half of Canada's immigrants each year, will receive $10 million, followed by British Columbia with $2.6 million and Alberta with $1.2 million. Wai Young, the head of the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance, which represents 450 immigrant and refugee agencies, called the new project a step in the right direction. "Newcomers will now be able to actually go to one website in stead of surfing around," said Young, the daughter of a Chinese immigrant who came to Canada 40 years ago. But she urged the government to do more, because providing information to newcomers does not mean they are actually getting a job, she said. If the government does not help immigrants and refugees "unlock their potential" the future for Canada, where the population is aging and fertility rates are dropping, will be grim, Young said. She said lack of people and skilled workers have already forced some business in Alberta to reduce their hours of operations, while in Newfoundland whole communities have boarded up the houses and moved to the cities. Unable to get "the good job" he was looking for, Raukela, the Indian immigrant, attended Finley's announcement Thursday. Unsure what to make of the new government project, he said he would check out the website. "I am not giving up," he said. "I'll continue to search for a job as an engineer . . . until the savings run out," he said.