Ontario to make it easier for immigrants to work in their professions

[REPRODUCED FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS]

Ontario is set to introduce legislation that would make it easier for immigrants to get licensed to work in professions that match their areas of expertise.

Labour Minister Monte McNaughton says the proposed legislation would, if passed, prevent many regulatory bodies from requiring immigrants to have Canadian work experience to get licensed.

It would also standardize English-language testing requirements and ensure licensing applications are processed faster.

McNaughton says the changes would help remove barriers immigrants often face when trying to work in their professions.

“It really is an injustice when you think of only 25 per cent of immigrants in Ontario work actually in jobs and professions that they were trained for,” he said in an interview.

“It’s all about improving their lives, ensuring that they get bigger paychecks and more worker protections.”

McNaughton says Ontario is facing a labour shortage as some 293,000 jobs are unfilled across the province.

The proposed legislation would apply to licensing bodies governing engineers, architects, teachers, accountants and social workers, among other. But it would not affect those regulating medical professions, including those that licence doctors and nurses.

The legislation would also help internationally trained workers in 23 trades, including electricians, plumbers and hoisting engineers.

Licensing bodies would still be able to apply for exemptions that could require Canadian work experience, but that would need government approval, McNaughton said.

“They have to make a health and safety case, which would come to the minister for approval,” he said, noting that he hoped to see the changes brought by the legislation take effect in two years.

The director of engineering training projects at ACCES Employment, an organization that help newcomers find suitable jobs in Ontario, said removing the Canadian work experience requirement would help immigrant engineers get licensed and hired a lot faster.

Gabriela Tavaru said immigrant engineers cannot work in their profession before they get their professional license, regardless of how many years of experience they had before they came to Ontario.

“Starting a job, performance evaluation, the whole system, it’s new. So it’s a little bit too difficult for any immigrant and especially for regulated professionals like engineers to navigate this process and get a job,” she said.

She said a maximum of four years of international experience is recognized by the licensing body for engineers in Ontario, but a minimum of one year of Canadian work experience in the field is also required. Immigrant engineers have to work for a year under the supervision of a licensed Canadian engineer to gain that experience.

“This is the problem: you cannot get a job to get your license,” she said. “They cannot be engineers. They cannot sign contracts. They cannot be called engineer, but they can work, for example, as estimators, project managers, field coordinators.”