Faster Review of Foreign Credentials

source: Canadian Mining Journal, 6/10/2007

The Canadian government has launched the first phase of its new FOREIGN CREDENTIALS REFERRAL OFFICE (FCRO) designed to help internationally trained engineers and other professionals to get their credentials assessed and recognized quickly so that they may work in this country. A budget of $32.2 million has been set aside for the initial five years of operation. This news should be welcome in the mining industry, which has been experiencing a shortage of skilled professionals. At the announcement of the new FCRO in Vancouver on May 24, Polly Nahar spoke of her four-year quest to get her credentials from the former Soviet Union recognized in Canada despite having 17 years experience as an engineer in Bangladesh. Her story has a happy ending: she joined AMEC, the international project management and engineering services company, a year ago and is working in the oil sands.

‘There is a disconnect between immigration and industry,” said Nahar. “If a government reviews your credentials and states your expertise is needed, a professional should not have to go through the entire process again to become accredited after arriving in Canada. Hopefully [the FCRO] will help others avoid the painful labyrinth that causes so many skilled people to give up and become minimum wage earners.” The FCRO’s approach will include in-person services, a dedicated phone service (888-854-1805), an expanding online service (www.Credentials.gc.ca), and overseas pilot projects. It plans to have 320 outlets across Canada by fall 2007. When the online service is fully functional, it will help individuals identify occupations for which they may be qualified, provide labour market information and refer them to the appropriate regulatory body. The office will also attempt to increase employer awareness of the benefits of hiring internationally trained professionals.

Think you're Canadian? Think again

Imagine spending 60 years in Canada raising a family and paying taxes, only to find out you're not a Canadian citizen. That's exactly what happened to Marion Galbraith of Dartmouth when she applied for a passport in March so she could travel to England and visit family. She couldn't believe it when she was turned down because, as the clerk at the passport office explained, she was not a Canadian citizen. "I started to laugh, and I said, 'You're kidding me, aren't you?'" Galbraith said. She's just one of hundreds of Canadians who have found out they're not actually citizens through sections of the 1947 Citizenship Act. It affects the wives and children of Canadian soldiers who were born abroad, and many others who fall under a variety of categories. Galbraith and her sister were born in England, the children of a war bride and a Canadian soldier. The family moved to Canada when Galbraith was three. "They were born before Canadian citizenship existed, and they weren't born in Canada," said Marina Wilson, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada. "She was born outside of the country before the act was in place, so she didn't qualify," she added. Nearly three months after discovering the startling news, Galbraith is still fighting - and waiting - for her official citizenship papers. She's spent countless hours filling out various applications and has forked over hundreds of dollars. Though she could travel with a British passport, she's postponed her trip till August.

Her sister, Annette Piccott, didn't fully believe there was a problem. Then she found she wasn't a Canadian citizen when she applied for her Old Age Security pension and received a letter stating she wouldn't receive money without proof of citizenship. Galbraith wants others to know they could be in the same boat. "The only way I found out is Lisa and (husband) Doug buying me a surprise ticket to take me back (to England) after 60 years." The situation saddens and frustrates Galbraith's daughter, Lisa Cochrane. "My mother has never been outside of Canada travelling," Cochrane said. "She's a homebody." Cochrane said her mother was so excited when she learned about the trip planned for the beginning of June that she had her suitcase packed by March. The two gave testimony this week during a Parliamentary hearing of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which is considering recommendations for possible legislation in the fall that could help these "lost Canadians" and grant them citizenship. But Galbraith worries the proposed legislation would not take into account people born abroad before 1947, like herself and her sister. "What about those people from '46 and '45 and '44?" she said. At this point, the government considers those born before 1947 on a case-by-case basis, Cochrane said.

Feds move to help immigrants find jobs

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 in April 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 who 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. "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." 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.

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 for prospective immigrants on how to get their credentials recognized, as well as information on the 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 instead 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 businesses in Alberta to reduce their hours of operations, while in Newfoundland whole communities have boarded up the houses and moved to the cities.

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.