PBLO - Immigration in Canada

1. Canada - Building an educated underclass Group 5 Tabitha Thomas Bhumika Shah Winslow Douglas Yanwen Gu Yetao Yang

2. Journey of immigrants employment in Canada The group has attempted to clarify the professional challenges that immigrants face upon migrating to Canada. Through this the audience will be able to understand the struggle that immigrants encounter while finding employment suitable to their skills. The presentation also highlights flaws in the immigration system and the possible factors that make immigrant programs offered by the government unsuccessful Analysis Questions: What challenges do the skilled workers face once they arrive in Canada? Explain why foreign-trained workers settle for menial jobs? Why are Canadian employers not interested in foreign trained immigrants? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhobvsUuogI

4. Earnings for recent immigrants lower than in past; catch-up takes longer

6. 46% say finding employment is biggest settlement challenge

7. 50% still searching for work 2 - 4 years after arrival (LSIC)

8. 60% of immigrants work in jobs for which they are overqualified (TRIEC, 2006) i.e. 'Survival' jobs - taxi drivers, cashiers, factory workers, cleaners etc.

9. Recognized barriers to employment

10. Unrecognized credential (education, employment experience)

11. Delayed assessment by professional associations

12. Lack of Canadian work experiencehttps://pwgsc-nh.webex.com/pwgsc-nh/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=12610312&rKey=9988288dc039129d Jennifer Asanin – McMaster University ~ Exploring the Impacts of Under/Unemployment among Highly Skilled Recent Immigrants in Canada, August 10, 2010

13. The following website allows you to assess your credentials, so that you may see which of your foreign obtained credentials are transferable to the Canadian labor market. It also makes suggestions on how you can make your skills applicable in Canada. http://www.credentials.gc.ca/individuals/credential.asp However, if newcomers wish to work in non-regulated occupations, the regular job market is an excellent place to begin your career in Canada. The Citizen & Immigration Canada website (CIC) details out how newcomers can assess their skills and qualifications and how they line up with the National Occupational Classifications (NOC).

14. Immigrants lacking "Canadian experience" The immigration process to enter Canada is a lengthy process that can take many years before an applicant is approved. During the process the applicants’ education and occupation is assessed by the CIC. The application is approved if the applicants’ education and experience meets the requirement under the skilled worker policy.(CIC, 2011) When approved it is assumed that the applicant would be able to find a job in their field of interest, thus being able to make a lateral transition into a job equivalent to their prior occupation. However, statistics from the CIC reveals that, approximately 50 – 100 thousand of the foreign-trained professionals that migrated to Canada have/had difficulty finding suitable employment. (Grant, & Nadin, 2005)

15. Interestingly, less than 20% of all new immigrants are able to find their desired occupations within the first 3 years of living in Canada. Although the government offers guidance and resources in an attempt to help new immigrates integrate and find suitable employment and obtain “Canadian Experience”, unfortunately the effort has met with very little success.(Grant, & Nadin, 2005) image taken from University of Toronto,2009

16. According to Constant and Zimmermann (2009), Chiswick's (1978) hypothesis on economic integration of immigrants is quite slow initially, as their foreign acquired skills are not always transferable to the country that they migrated too. (Constant and Zimmermann, 2009) This is highly evident in Canada, where we see highly skilled immigrants settling for low skilled jobs because of the transitional process of getting Canadian skills is so long that these skilled immigrants tend to give up, due to their responsibilities towards other things such as family and having a steady income.

17. Journey of immigrants employment in Canada The group has attempted to clarify the professional challenges that immigrants face upon migrating to Canada. Through this the audience will be able to understand the struggle that immigrants encounter while finding employment suitable to their skills. The presentation also highlights flaws in the immigration system and the possible factors that make immigrant programs offered by the government unsuccessful Synthesis Questions 1. Do you think that the National Occupational Classification and Career Handbook is a useful resource for immigrates (applicants) to use in assessing their occupations when considering migrating to Canada? Why or why not?2. Do you think that the CIC’s point system that is used to assess and attract skilled immigrants is in sync with the demands of the Canadian labour market? Why or why not?3. What do you think the government of Canada should do to improve the way foreign trained immigrants’ credentials are certified/recognized, and assist skilled newcomers to hit the ground running when continuing their career in Canada?

18. References: Recent immigrants are the most educated and yet underemployed in the Canadian labour force. (2009). Informally published manuscript, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved from http://martinprosperity.org/images/stories/jmc/cache/mpi-recent-immigrants-are-the-most-educated-and-yet-underemployed-in-the-canadian-labour-force.pdf Asanin, J. (Producer). (2010). Exploring the impacts of under/unemployment among highly skilled recent immigrants in Canada. [Web]. Retrieved from https://pwgsc-nh.webex.com/pwgsc-nh/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=12610312&rKey=9988288dc039129d CIC. (2011, April 15). How do I get my skills recognized?. Retrieved from http://www.workingincanada.gc.ca/content_pieces-eng.do?cid=223 Constant, A.F, & Zimmermann, K.F. (2009). Migration, ethnicity and economic integration. IZA,4620, 1-38. Grant, P.R, & Nadin, S. (2005). The difficulties faced by immigrants facing ongoing credentialing problems: a social psychological analysis. Credentialing Problems of Skilled Immigrants, 1, 1-14. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, (2011). The national occupational classification and the career handbook Retrieved from http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/CH/2001/IntroductionNOCandCH.aspx Statistics Canada, Initials. Statistics Canada, (2007). Longitudinal survey of immigrants to Canada (lsic) (Record number 4422). Canada: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4422&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2 TRIEC, Collaborative programs for immigrant employment. Retrieved fromhttp://www.triec.ca/about/faq#issue1