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Calgary immigration lawyer Evelyn Ackah explains Canada's new goal to recruit more internationally educated healthcare professionals who want to work in Canada. Evelyn explains the Canadian government's recent call for proposals to help foreign healthcare professionals qualify to work in Canada. With Canada's current healthcare crisis and labour shortage, this is a much needed program.
- Dec 5, IRCC Minister Sean Frasier a request for proposals.
- IRCC will invest up to $90 Million to help foreign healthcare workers get their credentials recognized to work in Canada.
- Under the Foreign Credential Program, Canada will remove barriers to foreign workers getting recognized experience and simplify the process.
- The program will create support including childcare, transportation and coaching for participants.
- The program will maintain Canada's current high standards, but allow much needed foreign healthcare workers to work in Canada.
- This will allow a smoother, more efficient immigration process for
- Employers who have proposals and foreign healthcare workers who want to work in Canada can reach out to Ackah Law for more information.
About Evelyn Ackah
Evelyn Ackah is the Founder and Managing Lawyer at Ackah Business Immigration Law. We work with individuals and business owners from all over the world who want to cross borders seamlessly. For more information on immigration to Canada or the United States, Ask Evelyn Ackah at Ackah Business Immigration Law today at (403) 452‑9515 or email Evelyn directly at contact@ackahlaw.com.
The Ask Canada Immigration Lawyer Evelyn Ackah podcast by Calgary Immigration Lawyer Evelyn Ackah was named #1 Best Canada Immigration Podcast in 2022 by Feedspot.
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Transcript:
Good day, everyone. This is Evelyn Ackah from the Ask Canada Immigration Lawyer Evelyn Ackah podcast. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast as well as on our LinkedIn Live for Ackah Business Immigration Law.
Today, I'm going to be speaking about how the Canadian government has recently called for proposals to help foreign healthcare professionals qualify in Canada. As an immigration lawyer, this is one of the biggest challenges I face, is many people that are educated abroad and the struggles they have to come to Canada and to have their credentials recognized. Given the current situation with our healthcare crisis and the need for more professionals, this is a really proactive and much needed program.
They have launched a call for proposals to help internationally-educated professionals work in Canadian healthcare. So the Minister of Immigration, refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser announced this in a press release December 5th, 2022, and the whole focus is to get proposals under the Foreign credential recognition program so as to invest up to $90 million to invest in projects that will help remove barriers, preventing qualified and skilled newcomers from gaining Canadian work experience in their own profession or field of study.
Right now, the focus on the projects will be focusing on reducing barriers to foreign credential recognition for internationally-educated health professionals by improving recognition processes, simplifying the steps in credential recognition, and offering increased access to practice in the field.
As a lawyer, I know that I hear this often, and I remember when I was working in Toronto, Bay Street, I would take taxis home all the time because I was working till midnight, and you can't imagine how many educated taxi drivers I encountered. Anecdotally, it was doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, foreign-trained, highly-educated people were driving taxis because they were struggling to get all their exams redone, or the Canadian body that regulated them was not recognizing any of their training or experience from back home. This is a real problem in our immigration process and one that I have seen for many, many years. I really hope this program is going to be the start of allowing people who come to Canada with hopes and dreams as immigrants wanting to contribute, are going to be able to contribute now if they are able to get through this foreign credential process.
One of the issues, too, is this program is going to provide internationally-educated healthcare professionals with Canadian experience that is relevant to their intended fields of work. It's going to also create things like wraparound supports for participants such as childcare, transportation, mentoring, and coaching. It's very challenging to come to a new country to find out that everything you've done historically is not being recognized, and it's very dehumanizing and it's very depressing for many people to come here with their hopes and dreams only to be shattered because the bodies that regulate their professions won't allow them access or has a very, very small number of spots available for foreign trade professionals. As a lawyer, I know I see it the same for doctors, I've seen it for dentists, ophthalmologists, optometrists, engineers. There needs to be a way that... Of course, we keep everything at the highest standard possible, but make room for people that we need.
Canada has an aging population. We have a desperate need for skilled workers in Canada. So by creating more barriers, we're making it harder for people and discouraging people from coming to Canada. I've also heard anecdotally, people are moving to Australia or the UK instead of coming to Canada because they're frustrated with some of these programs that don't allow them to be working in their field, and it may take years and years for them to requalify and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars that they may not have to start over again.
My own former family doctor, she came from Pakistan, fully trained, had practiced for like 15 years, and I was shocked to hear that she had to basically go back to med school in Canada and start from the beginning. Everything had to be redone because she was not being recognized for her time and her education. By the time she was finished and was working as a doctor, she was already well into her 50s and her career was cut short because she lost so much time requalifying, there must be a better way.
I'm really hoping that this government program will lead to some fabulous proposals that will help internationally-educated healthcare professionals and other professionals down the line to make their transition to Canada smoother, more efficient and more effective. We need healthcare workers very desperately given the COVID crisis and all the many healthcare workers that are exhausted, and we cannot afford to keep barriers up.
I hope that if you have some ideas or any interest in this area of internationally trained professionals that you'll reach out to Ackah Law. We are here to help you. If you want to know before you come, what the situation will be for your profession, we're happy to connect you or link you to the right body so you can prepare before you come. We don't want you to come here and be surprised and damaged and injured by the fact that you basically have to start all over again. You need to know before you get here. Give us a call at the number below or email us. We'd love to help you.
Thank you so much for joining the Ask Canada Immigration Podcast and also for joining us for our LinkedIn Live. Look forward to helping you, and I wish you and your family all the best for the holiday season. Take care. Bye-bye.
