EVALUATION OF AND ACCESS TO OCCUPATIONS, TRADES & PROFESSIONS
DURING SELECTION PHASE AND AFTER LANDING
INTRODUCTION:
On May 1, 1997, the National Occupation Classification replaced the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations (CCDO) as a working tool for the selection of independent immigrants seeking entry into Canada. It was enacted by a regulatory amendment to schedule 1 of the Immigration Regulations, 1978 published in the Canada Official Gazette Part I on March 15, 1997.
The NOC binder and Career Handbook developed by Human Resources and Development Canada (HRDC) are both components of the National Occupational Classification system.
The NOC breaks down the requirements of a particular occupation, in terms of a minimum level of education, training and skills required to perform a particular job.
The four digit NOC designation divides all occupational titles into 522 unit groups. Some of these groups have been further divided to the five digit level in the NOC Career Handbook resulting in 897 occupational titles.
The General Occupations List (GOL) last revised on May 21, 1997, consists of a list of those occupations selected by Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC) for immigration purposes from the NOC considered to be in demand according to the Canadian Labour Market. There are currently 338 main titles with sub-titles consisting of over 1000 occupations.
In order to be assessed under an occupation, the applicant must have performed a substantial number of the main duties as set out in the NOC, including the essential ones.
Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC) department's declared intent was for the change from the CCDO to the NOC to be primarily technical in nature. However, many applicants who previously qualified are now ineligible. Occupations adversely affected by the conversion are those requiring less formal training or education such as Cooks, Secretaries, Administrative Officers and technical tradesmen.
Due to a new Education and Training Factor (ETF) assigned to each occupation replacing Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP), the number of points allotted for immigration purposes were reduced by regulation.
A low ETF score also affected the maximum number of points which could be awarded under the Work Experience Factor since those with an ETF of 7 cannot receive more than 4 points for work experience, despite the number of years acquired in a particular occupation.
EDUCATION & TRAINING FACTOR (ETF)
An Education and Training Factor is assigned to each occupation which varies from 1, 5, 7, 17, or 18, depending on the necessary level of education that is required to perform the occupation.
The NOC Career Handbook sets out the Education and Training indicator (ETI) for each particular occupation. Points are allotted by immigration regulation based on the lowest rating provided. For those possessing qualifications greater than the minimum, no special consideration is given.
Those who have acquired an expertise on the job but lack the formal education required under the NOC are not eligible.
A greater emphasis has now been placed on the amount of education required to perform a certain trade or occupation, a move away from vocational preparation or experience.
Each level of education and training is qualified as "required", "usually required" or "sometimes required".
On July 16, 1997 CIC produced an Operations Memorandum to interpret these qualifiers as follows:
When described as "required", it is mandatory;
When it is "usually required", the applicant must meet this level unless there are significant and substantial factors that would, in the judgement of the visa officer, make it likely that the applicant will be able to overcome this requirement.
Education levels that are "sometimes required" generally mean not required;
LICENSING:
Many occupations in Canada require registration, licensing or membership in a professional or trade association. Applicants intending to work in these occupations must prove to immigration officials that they hold sufficient credentials to meet professional or trade licensing standards.
For example, engineers, pharmacists, engineering technicians or technologists, accountants, dieticians and medical laboratory technologists all require licensing.
A preliminary evaluation is required in order for the intending immigrant to be acceptable for immigration purposes, but, this is only the first step in a lengthy process. Upon his arrival in Canada in most cases he will be required to undergo training, language testing and other professional examination requirements.
The Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) is one of the most organized professional bodies in Canada in terms of its ability to assess foreign qualifications. The CCPE has a published manual containing a list of foreign engineering programs by country resulting from an exhaustive study of foreign jurisdictions The CCPE also has a mutual recognition agreement with several countries on an accreditation basis as being substantially equivalent.
If the individual's assessment is favourable, he is advised by the CCPE that his application is acceptable for immigration purposes.
Once admitted as a landed immigrant he will have to apply to the provincial licensing body responsible for regulating the profession. In Canada, the professions fall within the jurisdiction of the provinces and are controlled by an act of the provincial legislative.
ENGINEERS
ONTARIO
In the case of Engineers in Ontario, the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario sets out the licensing requirements. For those graduates not from a PEO accredited or recognized program, the applicant must follow a confirmatory exam program of three technical exams and one non-technical exam. Exceptions exist for those with over 10 years of work experience who may have the examination requirement waived following an interview. In fact, the majority of applicants interviewed have their confirmatory exams waived.
Once the PEO considers the academic background of the candidate to be acceptable, a Professional Practice exam is required on ethics, professional practice, engineering law and liability. Next is a work experience requirement of 48 months. At least 12 months of engineering experience must be in Canada under the supervision of a licensed professional engineer.
If an individual's academic qualifications are less than an engineering degree the PEO offers an exam program which would allow the applicant to upgrade his skills to the engineering level without having to return to university. This may either be basic for those who are Engineering Technologists or Individual for those whose academic background is determined to be between that of an Engineering Technologist and an Engineer.
QUEBEC
In Quebec, the Ordre des Ingenieurs du Quebec regulates the engineering profession. Assessment of Engineering degrees are carried out by the Order in order to determine equivalency. The Committee of Examiners acts pursuant to a request received from the Service d' Immigration du Quebec and evaluates the qualifications of the foreign trained engineer. Following a positive assessment, the applicant must satisfy a 24 month training requirement of which 12 months must be in Canada.
Other requirements include successful completion of a professional exam set by the Order and a French language proficiency exam under the auspices of the Office de la langue francaise.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
In British Columbia the practice of engineering is regulated by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geo Scientists of B.C. The Ontario model is followed. Foreign trained engineers who have not graduated from an accredited or mutually recognized engineering program are required to sit confirmatory exams of a technical nature.
An exemption exists for engineers possessing over 10 years of work experience in their field. For those engineers the exams may be waived following an interview. This is known as LTE or looking to exempt policy. Engineers with less than 10 years experience are required to write 4 confirmatory exams if their university is on the CCPE list and 6 exams if it is not.
After successful completion of the confirmatory exams, the applicant may register as an EIT, Engineer in Training. Four years of supervised work experience is required of which 12 months must be in Canada or the U.S.A. Credit of one year may be given to those with a masters degree in the same discipline and two years for a doctorate not cumulative. All applicants must successfully write a Professional Practice Exam before being licensed.
PHARMACISTS
The Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada has a lengthy assessment process. All provinces except Quebec require applicants trained outside of Canada to have the PEBC Certificate of Qualification. Each provincial licensing body is represented on the Pharmacy Examining Board which is responsible for evaluation and initial qualification. Foreign applicants must submit to a document evaluation, followed by an evaluating examination and finally a qualifying examination. In addition, since 1995 they are now required to undergo a language proficiency test if their degree was received outside Canada or the United States.
The language proficiency test may be written in the applicant's home country, but test scores are valid for only 2 years. Acceptable English tests are TOEFEL, TSE and TWE. French tests include Can Test and Test of Business French.
In addition to the PEBC Certificate of Qualifications, each provincial licensing body has their own licensing requirements.
ONTARIO
The Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP) has a 48 week of service training and training reports requirement in a community or hospital pharmacy of which 32 weeks can be done in Canada as a Registered Pharmacy Student and 16 weeks in Ontario only as an intern. The Registered Pharmacy student must find a pharmacist who is willing to teach and supervise and be present at all times, called a Preceptor. The applicant must prepare two project reports, preliminary and intermediate, testing his knowledge and skills in dealing with patients. Both reports are reviewed by the Preceptor together with the student and marked by an assessor. The Preceptor must also conduct an evaluation of the student.
An intern is required to do all the work of a pharmacist under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. However, it is not required that the registered pharmacist be present when the intern is communicating with a patient.
Once the applicant has completed the training requirement, he must pass the Ontario College of Pharmacists Pharmaceutical Jurisprudence Examination covering the law and use of drugs in Ontario. One day preparation seminars exist with study book materials.
However many obstacles exist for the foreign trained pharmacist seeking to get licensed in Canada outside Quebec:
1. Lengthy Process - It generally takes an average of 3 years to become licensed following document evaluation;
2. Lack of Formal Exam Preparation - No tutorship program exists to prepare the applicant for the evaluating and qualifying exams set by the PEBC;
3. Language Proficiency Test - Many lack the required fluency necessary to pass the test;
4. Exam Times are few - The Evaluating exam is held only twice yearly (July / Feb). The qualifying exam is also held only twice yearly (Spring / Fall);
5. Difficulty to find a Preceptor for the training period;
6. No guarantee of payment for 48 weeks of in service training;
7. High cost of registration process - approximately $2000.00 Canadian dollars;
8. If the candidate fails to pass the evaluating or qualifying exam he must gain admission to the Faulty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto which is the only school in Ontario that offers this program. In practice, few foreign students are accepted annually.
QUEBEC
In Quebec it is the Ordre des pharmaciens du Quebec which is the licensing body which regulated the pharmaceutical profession. Unlike the other provincial regulatory bodies it has chosen to do its own equivalency evaluation and does not subscribe to the service offered by the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada. Excluded from the requirement of licensing and registration are those pharmacists working in industry, administration or education.
Licensing is required for Community and Hospital Pharmacists. In order to be licensed the applicant's degree must be considered to be equivalent to the program offered at either the University of Montreal or University of Laval. In addition, it should have been obtained within the preceding 5 years unless the applicants can prove their subsequent training and work experience provides them with the level of knowledge required.
In practice, university graduates in pharmacy from Canada and U.S. generally have their diplomas determined to be equivalent. In such cases three requirements remain, namely, the jurisprudence exam, the "stage d'internat' and the French language proficiency test. The major obstacle for most graduates in this category is the language test for non-francophones. Unlike the other provinces, there is no qualifying examinations to write.
A stage of 600 hours must be followed during a period of at least 15 weeks and not more than 1 year under the constant supervision of a maitre de stage designated by the Order.
It is more problematic for foreign graduates from outside Canada and the U.S. as their diplomas are not considered to be equivalent. The Order requires all foreign trained pharmacists in this group to take courses to requalify at the University of Montreal or Laval. The problem is the existence of a quota at the university level. Presently only 4 candidates are accepted each year, two per university. Of 31 applications received for 1998-1999 only 4 will be allowed to follow a course of study allowing for re-qualification and eventually licensing.
ACCOUNTANTS
The Accountancy profession in Canada has 3 main professional bodies:
1. The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants;
2. Society of Management Accountants of Canada; and
3. Certified General Accountant Association of Canada (CGA)
The NOC career handbook specifies that all these types of accountants require licensing. However the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada has recognized in an Operations Memorandum that it is possible for a person to obtain a position as an Accountant in Canada without licensing and to study part time to obtain certification.
CONCLUSION
The professions enumerated above are only a select few of those occupations requiring licensing and are meant to be exemplary.
Unfortunately the reluctance of many of Canada's other professional and trade licensing bodies to willingly recognize the qualifications of foreign-trained professionals is a serious problem. Not every profession or trade licensing body is willing to do credential assessments for foreign professionals. In practice, very few foreign trained professionals successfully requalify and work in their fields in Canada.
A lack of co-ordinated effort and cohesive policy exists among the government licensing bodies and educational institutions that would allow for the establishment of a program in which foreign applicants would be able to successfully requalify in their professions in Canada.
Educational institutions are not prepared, because of a lack of will and/or funding, to accept as part time students whose who are required by the licensing bodies to complete courses at community colleges and/or universities for requalification purposes.
The end result is a policy of exclusion of highly qualified professionals who have been invited into Canada as immigrants based on their skills and are denied an opportunity to re-establish themselves and make a significant contribution to the Canadian economy.
TOWARDS THE YEAR 2000
The Federal Provincial - Territorial Group on Access to Professions and Trades comprised of representatives from the many regulatory bodies for all provinces and territories as well as representation from CIC and HRDC has recognized the need to hold a conference in October 1999 in Toronto to review and examine the accessability to licensed professions. Immigrant settlement groups and educational institutions will be invited.
The mandate is primarily to establish a central source of information which would be used to counsel prospective immigrants in how they can get their qualifications assessed and the likelihood of entry into their chosen profession in Canada. It is also recognized that there is a need to establish a bridging mechanism between the regulatory body and the educational institution which would allow applicants a reasonable expectation to requalify in their fields. It is hoped that this will lead to a greater awareness of the need to assist immigrants in order to insure their successful integration into Canadian society.
Respectfully submitted by
Herbert Brownstein
CBA QUEBEC IMMIGRATION & CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE
Communications Coordinator
