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Citing a serious labour shortage in Ontario, the provincial government is aiming to make it easier for internationally-trained immigrants to start careers in their chosen profession.
Today's announcement would help remove many "significant barriers internationally-trained immigrants face," such as the requirement for Canadian work experience when attempting to get licenced in certain regulated professions and trades.
The proposed changes would apply to non-health-regulated professions and compulsory trades such as professional engineers, architects, plumbers, electricians, accountants, hair stylists, teachers, and early childhood educators. However, the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development will work with the Ministry of Health to assess if these proposed changes can also be made for health professions in the future.
“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 profession for no other reason than bureaucracy and red tape, These are folks who often have the training, experience, and qualifications to work in booming industries where Ontario desperately needs help but are being denied a chance to contribute."
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The Ontario government intends to propose changes this fall which will:
- 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 creates 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.
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.
