iaink

States?...thinking of the wrong side of the border there!

Generaly the different provincial bodies have reciprical recognition, which generally comes into play (in engineering anyway, which is what I know about) after a couple of years membership. Move province after a couple of years and membership transfer is a formaility. Move too soon and you may have to requalify in some way to join the local body.

As to why CIC recognises qualifications that employers dont, It shows the applicant has a brain and is able to learn stuff if required, and was operating as a professional whatever in there country of origin. I guess it makes no sense for them to discriminate on qualification grounds because a candidate can only take the qualifications available in their local jurisdiction. Why discriminate against a potetially outstanding person solely because they dont have access to the right exams.

CIC do plainly state that people should check out the employment requirements for themselves to be fair. Anyone who comes here as a brain surgeon or whatever without checking out if they can practice medicine freely here, and end up driving a taxi through lack of research gets what they deserve I guess.

The government seemingly has little or no control over the professional bodies that license the regulated professionals, and the professional bodies (run by and for the professionals concerned) have no interest in reducing competition for their members services by throwing the doors open to one and all...

Welcome to the canadian employment trap eh!

Of course social work might be more reasonable.

Andrew Miller

Not "recognized by governing body of the industry". Education institution must be recognized by the authorities responsible for registering, accrediting, supervising and regulating such institutions in the country of issue - it may be a Ministry of Education or similar government entity.

JAJ

Because they won't be able to use their qualification in Canada, maybe?

Jayne27

Thanks for your replies, so we need to check if my husbands social work degree will enable him to actually be a social worker in canada as opposed to a taxi driver (not that theres anything wrong with taxi drivers but there is when you've spend years studying to do something else)

Jayne

iaink

But they will be able to re-qualify, if thats what they want. As long as the individual is aware of the employment situation and wants to do something about it, I cant see why CIC should bar them from coming here and trying it, which is what you are suggesting.

I'm sure there are many very talented people contributing to Canada's economy who had to put some work into re-qualifying here (I work with a few). They would be pretty pissed off at the suggestion that they should be denied that opportunity because through curcumstances entirely beyond their control they originaly come from a part of the world where the available qualifications dont happen to meet Canadian employers expectations.

JAJ

If it was just a case of taking an exam (and sometimes it is) then you would be correct. But other professionals face much higher barriers, such as requiring full time education or training with very limited places, which makes it near-impossible to requalify even if they want to.

Jayne27

Maybe my husband should just change his career ideas and go for something completely different!

kt0157

Yes. It's often a nasty surprise. Which is why you get doctors driving cabs.

Yes.

I think you mean "province".

But in any case, some professions are regulated by the province. Qualifying as a paramedic (for example) in one province doesn't translate to being qualified in another province.

Often, yes.

K.

iaink

However, that should be their (informed) decision to take that chance, not the governments decision to just prohibit people based on the quailifications and experience the applicant was able to get in their home country. Of course it would be nice if the Feds could do something about this whole problem, but Im not going to hold my breath. My Best friend back in the UK, a consultant surgeon, was very serious about coming to canada. God knows the medical system here could do with more doctors. However, when he looked at the hoops he would have to jump through to get licensed, and the odds against him, he soon changed his mind.

More support for applicants in doing the necessary tests etc abroad while they are waiting and waiting, rather than once they get here might be something the government could help with though, that way they would be able to integrate faster on arrival???

I still think it should be the individuals decision to come to Canada and face the "near impossible" (ie possible for some) requalification, rather than be told "No" for reasons totaly outside their control.

JAJ

But in that case, where an individual is effectively going to be "unskilled" on arrival (with no chance of that changing soon), why should he or she be accepted as a "skilled" migrant?

It's different if someone is migrating on family or humanitarian grounds.

Jayne27

Sorry province...this is a real shock to me, it must be really difficult for Canadians to move around then unless they work in a shop or something?...

Lets just hope that we don't change our minds about where we want to live eh!

iaink

Given the realities of the canadian job market and the "canadian experience" requirement that comes up all the time, that probably applies to 80% of skilled workers.

The issue is the long term growth of Canada, and to deny some very able people because it will take time to adapt is counter productive at best. You might as well make the same argument about English / French language fluency being mandatory, that probably holds back more "skilled" immigrants overall than any other single factor.

Jayne27

Does this apply to all jobs?, i mean there must be some jobs where employers in canada will say yep you're qualified we'll give you a job

I'm surprised there is so many people applying for immigration if this is the case...unless they don't know?

it's scary stuff...

iaink

Just takes time to overcome. Its job market dependent to some extent, but in most skilled areas there is a tendency among employers to want someone else to have taken a chance on you first unfortunately. Obviously this applies less in "hot" job markets like Alberta where employers will take anyone with a pulse right now.

JAJ

In that case it would probably make a lot more sense (if CIC thought rationally about it) to abolish the independent skilled migration program completely and replace it with a scheme which allows anyone with a work permit in Canada for a period of time (3-5 years) to become a permanent resident on that basis.