Click
here for PDF version
THE CHALLENGE
New Canadians face difficulties in finding jobs appropriate to theirs skills, training, and experience. The credentials gap harms both their livelihood and the economy as a whole. Research suggests the economic distress is getting worse, not better. Paul Martin’s government has done nothing to address the credentials issue while failing to reduce high entry fees in three budgets. With growing immigration into our increasingly knowledge-and service-based economy, only a committed federal government can provide an effective national solution.
THE FACTS
After several years of decline, the number of immigrants to Canada has started to grow again. In September of 1984, immigration stood at 84,000 individuals. Over the next eight years, through steady annual increases, immigration reached 256,000 in 1993. The Liberals returned to office and immigration decreased to 225,000, and then 210,000 in the next two years. By 2004, it had increased to 236,000.
Over half of immigrants to Canada enter as skilled or independent immigrants, as the admission system gives additional points for education, skills, and training. However, upon arrival, these immigrants encounter a variety of barriers that often lead to their under-employment or unemployment.
The Conference Board of Canada estimates that the failure to recognize immigrants’ education and credentials costs new Canadians in the range of $3.4 billion to $5.0 billion dollars a year in lost earnings.1
The issue of foreign credentials is consistently cited as one of the top three barriers to employment.
Part of the problem is complexity of the accreditation system.2 There are 13 jurisdictions in Canada, 15 regulated professions, and more than 400 regulatory bodies. Ontario alone faces a shortage of as many as 2,000 physicians, while an estimated 4,000 international medical graduates who live in the province are unable to work as doctors.3
Successive Liberal governments have made promises to address the credentials issue including in the 2002 Throne Speech. An announcement last June by the Immigration Minister lacked concrete details.
Paul Martin introduced the $975 Right of Landing Fee in 1995. He had six budgets to reduce the fee as Finance Minister. He did nothing. And as Prime Minister, he had three budgets to reduce the expensive Right of Landing Fee. He did nothing. Any promise from Paul Martin on the Right of Landing Fee is simply not believable.
Immigration reform must help new Canadians in the critical first year of their arrival through better credential recognition and lower government-imposed costs.
THE PLAN
Canada has long welcomed hard-working, law-abiding men and women seeking freedom, democracy, and opportunity for themselves and their families.
The Liberal record on immigration is to tolerate queue-jumping, set up special programs for foreign strippers, and hold up legitimate immigration applications in years of red tape. And they charge sky-high immigration fees to pay for their wasteful and corrupt spending on other departments of government.
A Conservative government will stand up for a fair and sensible immigration plan that works for Canada.
A Conservative government will:
- Immediately cut the $975 Right of Landing Fee in half and continue to reduce it over our mandate as the fiscal situation allows. Immigrants and their families can better use this money to cover starting life in Canada. The estimated cost of this reduction is $500 million over five years;
- Create a Canadian Agency for Assessment and Recognition of Credentials, to provide pre-assessment of international credentials and experience. We will work to educate employers on the value of foreign credentials. And we will work with the provinces and professional associations to ensure foreign-trained professionals meet Canadian standards while getting properly trained professionals working in Canada quickly; and
- Support Canadian parents who adopt foreign-born children by extending automatic citizenship to these children once the adoption is final.
THE CHOICE
With growing immigration into our increasingly knowledge-and service-based economy, only a Conservative government will work to recognize immigrant credentials and cut the right of landing fee in half.
New Canadians will be a critical part of making Canada a greater country in the 21st century. New Canadians will best realize their dreams with a Conservative government that respects their efforts, understands their values, and opens up real opportunities. On January 23rd, new Canadians face a choice. The Liberals believe immigrants owe them their vote. Conservatives believe that government owes hard-working immigrants the respect they and their families deserve.
1. “Immigration: A New Deal for Newcomers,” Michael Bloom, Chapter 5, Performance and Potential 2004-2005: How Can Canada Prosper in Tomorrow’s World?, Conference Board of Canada, October 2004.
2. “The Institutional Context of Immigration Policy and Foreign Credential Recognition in Canada,” Jeffrey G. Reitz, paper for IRPP conference on North American Integration, April 2004, found at http://www.irpp.org/events/archive/apr04/reitz.pdf .
3. Report of the Task Force on the Licensure of International Medical Graduates, Federal/Provincial/Territorial Advisory Committee on Health Delivery and Human Resources, February 2004 found at http://www.aipso.ca/Task%20Force%20Final%20Report.pdf
