And don't forget UBC which has a wonderful medical school and actually the University of Victoria will be offering some courses as well!!!

You're absolutely right - Canada needs Doctors so badly - that you would think that immigration would make it easier for them to quality. However sounds from the programon CBC that eventually that may happen. Hate to see really good doctors....driving taxi...waht a waste!!!

Neither of which are in Alberta! Try and keep up, or have you been pulling all nighters again. I'm doped to the gills, and I can still keep track

Guess I'm really slow on the draw today....my son started school this week - very teary for mom/dad - but him.....couldn't wait to get there!!! I walked him to school with other moms'/kids and as we were waiting...he said to me...."that's ok mom....I can walk by myself (which of course would never happen)...guess it's good to see him so enthusiastic - hope it lasts!!!!

I didn't realize that the topic was for only Alberta....there are 9 other provinces in Canada in case you've forgotten - and besides you know how I love to get off-topic (even slightly), and love to put my 2 cents about the center of the universe on the forum to try to convince your guys that it really is!!!!

Thank you for mentioning the Netherlands.

As far as your wife goes, you have good news and bad news.

The basic rule is that to practise as a GP in Canada, you need to hold the LMCC examinations (MCCEE, MCCQE1, MCCQE2) and also Specialty Certification as a Family Practitioner through the Canadian College (CCFP).

If you are looking at an urban area, that is the line that will be taken. Also, bear in mind that to be assessed as a skilled worker using medicine, you need a pass on the MCCEE for this to occur. No MCCEE, no skilled worker application. You will not be able to come over on a work permit as the HRSDC approval criteria for recruiting staff is unlikely to suggest that no Canadian could be found.

However, if you look at a rural area, the situation is VERY different. In BC (who are the most aggressive at present at recruiting), www.healthmatchbc.org will do a lot of the work for you. Essentially, you need to submit your CV and certificates to the College in Vancouver, who will assess your abilities, and if they agree that your training is sufficient, will state they are willing to give you a temporary licence to practice, with a number of conditions, but waiving the need for all the exams up front.

This is important as to obtain the speciality certification, you will have to resit exams in the specialty once approved by the CFP which can take up to 3 years.

You will have to take the LMCC exams, but at a later stage.

In my case, the conditions were to pass the MCCEE during the 1st year, the two QEs during the next 4 years, and obtain a ruling on eligibility for the FRCSC surgical boards (equivalent of a CCST).

It can be done quickly, we started making our inital inquiries November last year, and I start work on November 1st coming.

Bear in mind, this is for rural areas; if you are looking at an urban practise, it is a wholly different beast, and very time consuming.

Some doctors come in first to a rural area, get all their qualifications and then move to urban areas. I am not condoning this (it seems a bit underhand to me) but I know it is a common way in for trained doctors.

Alberta is also fairly amenable to taking foreign doctors without Canadian qualifications into rural areas, and Saskatchewan relies very heavily on these doctors for primary care. Ontario is essentially impossible to crack as a FMG, all the foreign doctors deliver Pizza and drive cabs there

Matt

Thanks for all the info guys.

From the sounds of it the immigration is a bit of a contradiction, desperate need for doctors but complicated procedures for getting in.

We hadn't thought about the rural area first idea, although I agree it does sound quite underhand or is it just playing the system?

As for me, I'm not in IT support or Networking. I'm more of an applications analyst/developer, although this might mean that suitable positions for me are even thinner on the ground.

Oh well, looks like I'll have to send the mrs out to work while go skiing all day!! I'm sure that'll provoke a firey response :scared:

Hello Rick:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253972

Ha ha ha ha

That is not the case actually, I happen to know two vacancies on our internal job board now, that is requesting an analyst/developer. There are most chances for a developer that a support or networking person, which is what I do know, amongst other roles that also include SQA, P.M.

Depends on what your skills are and don't forget you still won't have Canadian experience when you arrive - just because you aren't using a screwdriver now doesn't mean you won't appreciate getting a job using one when you've been here a few months

I remember meeting a european hardware designer who spent a year rewinding vacuum cleaner motors - that's why the doctor checks all of your joints & digits and your eyesight when you have the medical. Even if you turn up with $500K, it'll run out eventually if you can't get a job.

We have a lot of foreign trained doctors driving taxis and working as security guards - there's a big problem with the immigration system.

You can get into Canada using your skills from the UK, but it doesn't mean anybody will actually want to employ you to use those skills - Canadians want people with Canadian experience, they don't really care where you came from once you have it, but until you've got it, it can be a real bugger to get going.

That's only my experience from three years in Canada - feel free to ignore it with the blinkered optimism that most new immigrants seem to have by the bucketload

Depends on your point of view. You are unlikely to be highly valued if you tell them from the outset that all you are looking for is a ticket to urban medicine. So you would have to bend the truth. On the other hand, it is recognised as a way in, and I doubt many would truly blame you. IMHO though, it is a unfair and underhand to take all of the recruitment incentives, come over, and as soon as you can move down south.