Internationally-trained immigrants to get help in practising their professions

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The Ontario government intends to propose legislation that would, if passed, help address the province- wide labour shortage by making it easier for internationally-trained immigrants to start careers in their professions. The proposal announced recently would help remove many significant barriers such as the requirement for Canadian work experience when attempting to get licenced in certain regulated professions and trades such as law, accounting, architecture, engineering, electrical and plumbing. “Ontario is facing a generational labour shortage with hundreds of thousands of jobs going unfilled,” said Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. “However, all too often, newcomers in this province struggle to find jobs in their regulated professions for no reason other than bureaucracy and red tape. If these proposed changes are passed, Ontario would become the first province in Canada to help level the playing field in certain regulated professions.”

The proposed changes include:

Eliminate Canadian work experience requirements for professional registration and licensing unless an exemption is granted based on a demonstrated public health and safety risk. These requirements may create situations where workers are unable to obtain Canadian work experience because they don’t have it. This is often cited as the number one barrier Canadian immigrants face in obtaining a job that matches their level of qualification.

Reduce burdensome duplication for official language proficiency testing, so people would not have to complete multiple tests for purposes of immigration and professional licencing.

Allow applicants to register faster in their regulated professions when there are emergencies (such as a pandemic) that create an urgent need for certain professions or trades.

Ensure the licensing process is completed in a timely manner to help internationally-trained immigrants start working in careers that match their skillset. A few quick facts:

In 2016, only one-quarter of internationally trained immigrants in Ontario were employed in the regulated professions for which they trained or studied. This summer, roughly 300,000 jobs were going unfilled across the province, costing billions in lost productivity.

Currently, internationally-trained immigrants face multiple barriers to getting licensed in their field including requirements for Canadian work experience, repetitive and costly language testing, and long processing times. At present, licensing time in some regulated professions takes up to 18 months or more, while workers wait in limbo, wasting valuable time when they could be contributing to the economy.