Monday, November 30, 2009

Federal, provincial and territorial governments speed up foreign credential recognition for newcomers to Canada

Under the new Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications, foreign-trained workers who submit an application to be licensed or registered to work in certain fields will be advised within one year whether their qualifications will be recognized. The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Co-Chair of the Forum of Labour Market Ministers, and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, today endorsed a new framework to enhance foreign qualification recognition for internationally trained workers.

ThePan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications is part of the Government of Canada’s strategy to have the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world. Recognizing foreign credentials is part of the strategy, and foreign qualification recognition is the process of verifying that knowledge, skills, work experience and education obtained in another country are comparable to the standards established for Canadian professionals and tradespersons.
“Attracting and retaining the best international talent to address existing and future labour market challenges is critical to Canada’s long-term economic success,” said Minister Finley. “Ensuring that foreign credentials and qualifications are assessed and recognized in a timely manner will enable newcomers to maximize their talents.”

Minister Finley and Minister Kenney thanked the Forum of Labour Market Ministers, consisting of federal, provincial and territorial representatives, for its work on the Framework.

“This framework is another important step in paving the road to success for Ontario’s newcomers,” said the Honourable Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. “This builds on the plan our government already has in place to help newcomers get licensed in their field and get jobs.”

The Framework follows the Government of Canada’s commitment in the 2008 Speech from the Throne to “work with the provinces to make the recognition of foreign credentials a priority, attract top international students to Canada and increase the uptake of immigrant settlement programs.”

The Framework states that governments across Canada will work towards better pre-arrival services, assessments that are fair, transparent, consistent and timely across Canada, and improved workforce participation services for newcomers. These services will help internationally trained workers put their training and knowledge to work sooner.

“A priority of this government has been to make our immigration system more competitive globally and more responsive to Canada’s needs,” said Minister Kenney. “This framework complements initiatives such as the Action Plan for Faster Immigration, as they make our immigration system better meet the needs of our labour market. We want newcomers to be able to use their skills and work to their full potential. It’s good for them and good for the Canadian economy.”

Minister Finley and Minister Kenney also met with community leaders in the Greater Toronto Area to discuss foreign credential recognition and its place in Canada’s economic recovery. In particular, the discussion highlighted the commitments made by the Government of Canada to improve the process for newcomers to get their education, skills and experience assessed and recognized.

The Economic Action Plancommitted $50 million to work with the provinces and territories to address barriers to credential recognition in Canada. This investment will do four things:

•Develop the principles of timeliness, transparency, fairness and predictability that the federal, provincial and territorial governments set out to guide the process;

•Develop standards for the timely handling of requests;

•Identify the priority occupations for developing recognition standards; and

•Help people who want to come to Canada start the assessment process before they arrive.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Government of Canada Tables 2010 Immigration Plan

Ottawa, October 30, 2009 — Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, tabled Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s 2009 Annual Report today in Parliament.

“While other countries have cut back immigration levels as a short-term response to the global economic downturn, our government is actually maintaining its immigration levels to meet the country’s medium- to long-term economic needs,” said Minister Kenney.

“Canada plans to welcome between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents in 2010, the same number of immigrants as in recent years. In 2010, Canada will again welcome more new permanent residents than the average annual intake during the 1990s,” said Minister Kenney. “The focus of the 2010 plan is on economic immigration to support Canada’s economy during and beyond the current economic recovery.”

In particular, the admission ranges for immigrants nominated by the provinces and territories have been increased. Provinces and territories are in the best position to understand how Canada’s immigration intake can be aligned to their labour market needs. Second, by increasing the admission ranges in the Provincial Nominee Program, the Government of Canada is helping to ensure that the benefits of immigration are distributed across this country. Canada and the provinces will work together to manage growth in the provincial nominee program. Increasing the total number of immigrants processed under the economic category will also allow CIC to continue reducing the backlog of federal skilled worker applicants as part of the Action Plan for Faster Immigration.

Although the Action Plan has been in place for less than a year, early indications are that it is paying off. “People applying now under the federal skilled worker program can expect to receive a decision within six to twelve months, compared to up to six years under the old system,” said Minister Kenney. “We’ve also brought the backlog of federal skilled worker applicants down from over 630,000 to 425,000—a reduction of more than 30%.”

The backlog consists of people who applied before February 27, 2008, the date the Action Plan took effect. Since then, almost 240,000 people have applied to the new federal skilled worker program under the Action Plan. But even with those additional applicants, the total number of people currently awaiting a decision on their application is still 12% lower than when the Action Plan took effect.

“Before we changed the system, we had to process every application received. Since many more people applied every year than could be accepted, a backlog was created,” said Minister Kenney. “Now that we are processing only those applications that meet specified criteria, our Government is making significant progress in reducing the backlog.”

Improving the federal skilled worker program is part of the Government of Canada’s overall commitment to modernizing the immigration system to maximize its contribution to our overall economic growth.

“The Government of Canada will continue to work with provinces, territories and stakeholders to make sure immigration meets the needs of communities, employers and families now and in the future,” concluded the Minister.