Yasmina2005

Hi all:

I will focus on two issues:

1- Healthcare system
2- Finding a job for skilled workers

=======================

1- Healthcare:

It seems it challenging for Canada to keep its own doctors who prefer to go to the USA (or elsewhere) for better pay..People are finding hard times to be registered with a family doctor..hospitals are not well equipped...etc..

It was a shock for me when a friend of mine went to the emergency room of a big hospital in Montreal because she was bleeding for 2 days already and when she requested a sonogram, she was told there in not one..So, she could not be sure whether she has a miscarriage or she is bleeding for another reason...When she called her own gynecologist about the problem, she told her to go to the emergency room. The doctor did not want to see her until her September 29th appointment...

There is something wrong with the healthcare system and I do not know what the officers are doing to solve the issue (lack of doctors, how to keep doctors stay in Canada, how to stay competitive with the neighbors-USA, accountability, reliability, training of doctors and nurses, quality control of healthcare services, etc)

- 2- Finding a job for skilled workers

I understand there is skilled workers immigration class under which those with degrees and qualifications can apply to become PRs..For me, if CIC.GC.CA has that category, it means Canada needs this kind of people, BUT once these qualified people become PR and come to Canada, they have hard times finding a job. Then why have the skilled workers immigration category to begin with...

(Often people are told:"you do not have Canadian experience"..how can one have the canadian experience if s/he is not given a chance one time at least OR do you want this person to work in McDonalds to get the so called Canadian experience when s/he is applying for a University position for example?!!!).


There is an efficiency factor lacking. It was a surprise to me when my friend told me that she kepts calling this office and left messages, her calls were never returned...It hard to find this in the US for example..

I also see that Canadians need to work a bit harder...Can I say they are a bit lazier...I was shocked when I went to a mall in Montreal. It closes at 5pm during most days of the week. How about those who work and leave office at 5pm and want to go to the mall afterwards...

Are Canadians aware they are constantly compared to the Americans. I am not saying they need to be a carbon copy of Americans, but the economy of the two countries is so intertwined and the culture is close.


Yasmina

ps: I am a PR and I love to live in Canada BUT now, after reading and hearing stories especially about the above two issues, I have to think...

What bothers me: what are the officers doing about all this?...Aren't they aware of these problems or what is their agenda...

Is there an association/organization/ a general body for new Immigrants especially skilled workers that highlights the difficulity of finding a job for highly educated people and works closely with Officers on how to solve this issue?

Danny B

It's the same all over the world not just here. If I were a hiring manager back in the UK I'd much rather recruit a Brit with experience than a Canadian fresh off the boat with qualifications that I do not recognise.

Yasmina2005

Yes..But why say you have a need of skilled workers in your official website (CIC.GC.CA) and then when these qualified people come to the country, they have hard times finding a job..

Also, not all Canadians have canadian experience when they apply for a job. I am talking about those who just graduate from a college or a professional school and who are applying for an entry level job..
Sometimes, new immigrants come with degrees from well known institutions in UK or/and USA...And yet, it is not working...

Canada is a young country and they cannot afford to lose qualified people...Even their own medical doctors prefer to work in the USA...And i know 3 Canadian University professors (not medical doctors) who are working in the USA

bazzz

Personally I find the approach to the work/life balance out here quite refreshing. Who wants to spend their every waking hour at work? Maybe the people who work in malls would like to go home and spend some time with their families in the evening? Just a thought. I'm sure there are alternative shops that will be open later. Failing that, go at the weekend or in your lunch break.

TheStennings

Have to agree I'd love to pop to the shops after work myself however if they finish same time then so be it i'd have to go at weekends ...guess different place have a different attitude. I dont mind just something to get used to. Was that a big mall or is this a general thing over there?

As far as the doctor/health care etc.. I have no idea i just hope they are better then our current system which cant get a great deal worse

dingbat

You will pray for the good old NHS after a while. Healthcare here is a lottery - at least the standards are dependable and services accessible in the UK. If you have the money you can legitimately "go private" in the UK. Not so here, but that obstacle is slowly being eroded as an outmoded cornerstone of socialised medicine. Best of luck finding a family doctor here if any of you require real medical help.

heycronie

Really? The health care system works fine for me or are you basing your own assumption from....Montreal, the heart of Quebec. That might be your problem but not to disregard your fears on the Canadian health care plan as it does has it's problems like any other system but perhaps you should expand your horizons instead of basing something on one single experience on one single place in Canada. Trust me, its different in other provinces, weird I know. As for the doctors going to the USA, that is so 1990's and ancient history. Of course nobody can stop people going down the to USofA to do whatever they want but that doesn't mean there is a brain drain anymore. Keep up to date please.
Really? You've been everywhere in the U.S? Canada? Please, your pandering to the U.S seems to indicate that you want to move there more. Perhaps the U.S section on this forum is more to your liking. Don't complain when they don't answer your calls.
A countries closing time at 5pm like most other countries, does not attribute to their work ethic or laziness as you put it. Your experience seems to pander to Montreal a single place in Canada yet you are generalizing all of Canada as lazy or retarded in the work place. Lord. Canada was rated one of the most hardest working countries. Most places are open later on Fridays, Saturdays, anything wrong with those days?
Not sure what this has to do with anything at all but nice of you to put that in there, for generalization eh?

Yes, Canadians are constantly aware that they are compared to Americans, just like Britons and Australians are compared to each other (really, to the uneducated masses, who can tell the difference?) In Canada's defense, their dollar is on par with the Americans and they export Americans energy and water which, quite frankly, puts them on the upper hand in resources and trade. A history lesson is probably in your next best interest as well. Next?

Very_Optimistic

We are in the process of trying to make the move to BC (OH is a GP).

It is just a reality that any doctor financially motivated is moving to the US whether from Canada or the UK. The countries with the bigger long term issue on this front are places such as Africa / the Indian subcontinent where there is no backfill of doctors emigrating in and the need for healthcare arguable is even greater)

Canada is selective about the 'foreign' doctors they take in Their policy that any doctor must either have trained in Canada or have what they deem as equivalent is fine. In the UK going back 11 years now there wasn't even a requirement for foreign medical graduates to sit an English proficiency test

Yes being selective slows down the process of getting doctors in but at least the general population stand a better chance of their doctor being able to understand them and provide a minimum standard of care.

There are horror stories of doctors driving cabs in Toronto because despite having a medical degree or being a consultant in their home countries they can not get a Canadian licence. Truth is that in many of their home countries you can 'buy' a place in medical school or a degree and the training is not of a comparable standard to many Western countries.

Fully trained doctors from the UK, South Africa and Australia can 'walk' into jobs in underserviced areas provided they have completed formal training in the same specialities as Canadian Grads. There are constantly adverts in the British Medical Journal and agencies such as Health Match BC are very proactive with roadshows and assistance.

Your friend's case is unfortunate but do not kid yourself that other countries have necessarily got healthcare sorted. In the NHS a recent case where a pregnant lady delivered a baby in the hospital toilet -no beds in the ward and no one present. Critical care is good but waiting lists for many 'non urgent' cases are appalling. Try telling someone in constant pain their case is non urgent. Mental health facilities are under severe pressure. Private health insurance is expensive for alot of people.

Sorry I've rambled ! Anyway hopefully next year there will be at least one more GP somewhere in BC

Paul Wildy

I can't really comment on the healthcare issues you raise as I have had only good experiences of it so far. Regarding the skilled worker program though, this is not a program that aims to match workers directly to job shortages. The PNP programs for instance do try to do that - an employer demonstrates a difficulty in filling a position and skilled immigrants get matched to it. There is no question about the shortage bit via PNPs. But for the skilled worker program really anyone can apply. As long as you get the points (which could have been earned via language proficiency, age, education, family ties etc) then you are admitted - the Canadian government is not promising that your particular skills are in-demand here. Likewise there are plenty of people who apply and score points because of their skills and experience who once the get here don't enter that profession at all - they start a B&B instead.

So its quite possible that huge numbers of people from a specific profession get accepted into Canada yet there were never any jobs for them to begin with. In fact thats why CIC places so much emphasis on the Arranged Employment (this fastracks the process for you) because you are demonstrating that your skills are in demand through having the job offer.

DaveTheCat

I don't have any first-hand experience in Montreal (and I also have seen horror stories on TV), but in Quebec City health care services have been nothing less than excellent. As always, YMMV though.

rabrol

Our experience in Alberta has been really positive. We got registered with a family doctor in a really nice practice fairly quickly, despite the fact he wasn't taking new patients.

Had physicals - turned out I had moderately high BP. Got the blood tests done and everything sorted out really quickly.

When our daughter woke up with goo gunging up both her eyes, I called the docs office and managed to get an appointment for her 20 minutes later. I was quite surprised and very pleased at the same time

When having to take kids to Emergency, there have been no problems other than the wait. No different to my experiences in the UK. Excellent triage system in place and so on.

So its not all bad....

mkmurrays

Hi
There appears to be issues registering with a GP in Kelowna too.....because of the huge growth in such a short time. We were registered pretty quickly because our neighbour works at the hospital and she did a phone round for us. We were told to call the doctor's PA and say 'Kathy told us to call' and we'd be okay.
We did, and we were registered, no problem. Did make me feel a bit awkward though - I'm not generally a fan of getting in through the back door!

mkmurrays

Oops hit the send button too quickly.....

On the other hand, two years ago I had an accident in Vancouver and I got A++++ treatment at the hospital there. X ray, consultant, medication, the lot in three hours flat. Can't complain about that! I was preparing to be there all night...

Grah

Well the people saying we need staff with XY qualifications are not the people doing the hiring.

Just read the going home threads - you'll see that having "Canadian experience" isn't only about "Working" it means your not likely to be running away in 1-6months because the weathers not the same as you have some investment to being here.

Finally where would you work somewhere you earn a good wage or somewhere you can earn a fantastic wage?
When the Culture and Climate are almost the same or better.

Hope your friend is alright and the diagnostic of don't worry is a good one.

MB-Realtor

It is impossible to generalize about health care anywhere, but here in Canada its doubly so as Health care is a Provincial responsibility.

Here in Manitoba the media do not speak well of the local health care, but so far, as a family we have had no problems, and have found standards and waits to be very similar to the UK.

If you have the money to go private its really no problem that you can't use a Canadian facility, as you can go south to the USA and get the "finest" most expensive health care in the world.