Report: Foreign Trained Professionals

Recommendations from the Iranian Canadian Congress

Prepared by:
Policy Committee, Iranian Canadian Congress
4/14/2018

45 Sheppard Avenue East, Unit 900, Toronto, ON, M2N 5W9, [email protected], www.iccongress.ca
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Though Canada has a skill-based immigration system, employment outcomes for skilled
professionals who come to Canadian provinces like Ontario are recognized by analysts and
stakeholders alike as poor, creating detrimental economic and social effects. In 2010, only 32%
of new immigrants to Ontario were able to have their credentials recognized. Lack of credential
recognition combined with discriminatory labour practices are thought to contribute to larger
trends; for example, that newcomers make approximately 60% of the salary of a Canadian-born
worker. Furthermore, these inferior employment outcomes for foreign trained professionals are
estimated to lose Ontario’s economy as a whole over $15.2 billion annually, equivalent to 2% of
our province’s GDP. 1

This report, completed by the Policy Committee of the Iranian Canadian Congress, makes a
series of recommendations for the Ontario government to address the issue of the inferior
employment outcomes of immigrants. Many of these recommendations are taken from provinces
outside of Ontario and other immigrant receiving countries. Specifically, we make
recommendations that seek to address labour market discrimination, financial difficulties of
immigrant professionals, the lack of transparency of accrediting institutions, and social
difficulties of labour market integration. These recommendations include:

• Establishing incentive and auditing regimes to combat discriminatory hiring and labour
practices;
• Increasing the financial assistance and loans available to immigrant professionals;
• Increasing provincial government oversight of the various accreditation bodies in
Ontario, including:
o The establishment of an independent ombudsman who has the power to issue
binding resolutions;
o Increased legislative involvement in the accreditation process;
• Providing immigrant professionals with social supports including childcare and
counselling.

1https://www.competeprosper.ca/uploads/2017_Immigration_in_Ontario_Achieving_best_outcomes_Full_

report.pdf
INTRODUCTION
Canada’s immigration policies have prioritized “finding people who have the skills and
experience required to meet Canada’s economic needs.”2 As a result, Canada’s point system
continues to accept immigrants who meet Canada’s labour market needs. These professions
include engineering, medicine, dental professions, among others as labour market needs change.
Immigrants continue to gain points for occupational skills, education level, knowledge of English
or French, age, and other attributes. Those who arrive expect to utilize their skills and experience
and work in their fields. However, these foreign trained professionals have difficulties in
accreditation processes and often end up underemployed once they arrive in Canada.3
Canada’s economy loses annually over $11 billion dollars due to the underutilization of
immigrants’ skills.4 This discrepancy between immigrants’ skills and where they are employed
leave immigrants earning considerably less than Canadian-born workers who have similar
education and work experience. Typically, a newcomer man earns typically 63 cents on the
dollar compared to their Canadian born counterpart and newcomer woman earns 56 cents on the
dollar compared to their Canadian-born counterpart.5 The 2015 Conference Board of Canada
report6 revealed that Canadians would earn up 13.4 to 17 billion more annually if their foreign
educational and work credentials were fully recognized. This figure is up from $4.1 to $5.9
billion estimated in the 2001 report.7 An estimated 844 000 Canadians have difficulties getting
their educational and work credentials recognized; up from the 2001 number of 540 000 people.
These findings are concerning especially since the same report showed that Canada’s economy is
moving towards higher-skilled jobs and these unrecognized credentials are leading to large scale
under and unemployment among Canada’s newest immigrants and citizens.
Similarly, a 2017 working paper by the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity
estimated that Ontario in particular is losing $15.2 billion a year.8 This number is equal to 2% of
our province’s GDP and equal to the combined GDP of Ontario’s agriculture, mining and oil and
gas industries in 2016.9 This loss in individual income is also a considerable loss in government
tax revenue.10
Although this issue has been cited as a problem throughout all of Canada, the
responsibility of managing the practice of professional and trade licenses falls under the

2 https://www.loc.gov/law/help/points-based-immigration/canada.php
3 http://calgaryherald.com/storyline/skilled-immigrants-wasting-their-talents-in-canada
4 Esses, V. M., Bennett-AbuAyyash, C., & Lapshina, N. (2014). How discrimination against ethnic and

religious minorities contributes to the underutilization of immigrants’ skills. Policy Insights from the
Behavioral and brain Sciences, 1(1), 55-62., p. 56.
5 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/beyond-hello-miia-suokonautio-1.3476082
6 http://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=7607
7http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/16-01-

26/canada_could_gain_billions_from_improvements_in_recognizing_education_and_skills.aspx?AspxAut
oDetectCookieSupport=1
8https://www.competeprosper.ca/uploads/2017_Immigration_in_Ontario_Achieving_best_outcomes_Full_

report.pdf
9 http://triec.ca/ontario-pre-budget-submission/
10 http://triec.ca/ontario-pre-budget-submission/
jurisdiction of provincial governments. Provincial governments have assigned accreditation and
regulatory responsibility to self-governing third-party associations for a number of professions
like engineering, law, and medicine.11 The little government oversight of these professional
associations has left many foreign trained professionals under or unemployed and the Ontarian
economy as not been able to reap the benefits of these skilled individuals. In 2010 52% of new
immigrants settled in Ontario, however, the province continues to have one of the lowest match
rates. Only 24% of immigrants are working in the occupation most associated with their field of
study; a match rate that reflected Canada’s national average. 12 Only 32% of Ontario’s newly
arrived immigrants were able to have their foreign credentials formally recognized.13
The Office of Fairness Commissioner (OFC) annual report of 2016-2017 recounted that
there have been incremental changes in licensing practices over the years and this has led to the
reduction of burdens felt by foreign trained professionals and fairer processes. 14 Although the
OFC reports the improvements, both qualitative and quantitative data show the barriers that
continue to burden foreign trained professionals in being effectively employed. The Ontario
government can help overcome these institutional barriers by implementing thoughtful and
effective policies that address these issues. This report identifies four key factors that impede
foreign trained professionals’ integration into their chosen fields. These include: lack of
financing, lack of social supports, a lack of transparency and public control over accreditation
processes, discriminatory labour practices, and the disregard of non-Canadian work experience.

FINANCING

Background

The lack of financing and accessibility to loans constitute key obstacles for foreign
trained professionals attempting to practice in Canada. Certification programs are notoriously
expensive; tests cost an upwards of $10,000 and certification is often lengthy and requires
multiple attempts.

Although Ontario does have a few micro loan programs (i.e. Ontario Bridging Program,
Immigrant Access Fund, Ottawa Community Loan Fund, and WIL Employment Connections),
research has shown these loan programs are underfunded and fail to fulfill the demand. These
current programs leave many foreign trained professionals uncertified because of the enormous
financial cost of certification and the added burden of being part-time or unemployed through the
process. As most accounts illustrate, foreign trained professionals who undergo these programs
in Ontario are not well supported. While often these programs do end up leading to employment,

11
Brouwer, A. (1999). Immigrants need not apply (pp. 1-18). Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy.
12
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/2010102/article/11121-eng.htm#a4
13
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/2010109/article/11342-eng.htm
14
http://www.fairnesscommissioner.ca/files_docs/content/pdf/en/OFC_Annual_Report_2016-2017.pdf
they leave individuals in limbo for years because they are unable to secure funding. 15 One
foreign trained engineer attended Ryerson’s Internationally Educated Engineers Qualification
Bridging (IEEQB) Program in order to meet the requirements for licensure by Professional
Engineers Ontario (PEO). Individuals who attend this program pay the same tuition per course as
other regular students. The six required courses end up costing around $10,978 - $11,681 which
is particularly costly for those who are not working as many of them are not eligible for any
loans.16 This particular individual needed to work part-time in order to afford life expenses and
support his dependents as well as the costly tuition fees. This delayed his accreditation process
and left him in a precarious position.

More severely, a report17 put forth by a group of internationally trained dentists exposes
the costs of medical re-licensure programs are much more costly and at times impossible to
undergo. The average cost for re-licensing an internationally trained dentist in Canada is
$20,000. Full-time schooling often leaves these individuals unable to work and support their
dependents. On average, the living cost for an internationally trained dentist and their family is
$30,000. This makes the initial annual start-up cost for an internationally trained dentist to be on
average $50,000; leaving many internationally trained dentists unable to practice in Canada - a
reality that negatively affects Canadians on many levels.

Experiences and accounts like the one described above are plentiful and costly
accreditation process leave many newcomers unaccredited and these individuals are left working
jobs to make ends meet. This rampant case of underemployment in Ontario has led the province
to lose out on taxes and talent. This problem can be addressed by implementing policies that
support newcomers and make the accreditation process more affordable and feasible.

Recommendations

Ontario can learn from other Canadian provinces’ programs. Provinces like New
Brunswick, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia have invested in loan programs that offer loans
from $10,000 to $15,000, which greatly alleviate these financial burdens.1819 Specifically, the
New Brunswick Multicultural Association20 launched a new loan program entitled the Career
Pathway Program. This program gives out loans of up to $15,000 to foreign trained professionals
who are in need of Canadian and provincial credentials. The New Brunswick Multicultural
Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting immigrant-serving organizations
15
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/bridging-programs-help-foreign-trained-
professionals-gain-accreditation/
16
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/bridging-programs-help-foreign-trained-
professionals-gain-accreditation/
17 “Canada’s Toothless Dentists” – Report by Internationally Trained Dentists Organization
18
https://www.mosaicbc.org/services/employment/career-paths-for-skilled-immigrants/stream-2-3/
19
Information Morning Fredricton - Alex Leblanc - Executive Director of N.B. Multicultural Association
20
Information Morning Fredricton - Alex Leblanc - Executive Director of N.B. Multicultural Association
and ethno-cultural associations in the province. They are funded through provincial and other
governmental grants. This is similar to MOSAIC in British Columbia - MOSAIC is a non-profit
agency that has a program entitled “Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants” - this program provides
general support including financial assistance ($10,000 loans) to foreign trained professionals.
These two provinces fund grassroots non-profit organizations to distribute these loans.

The Career Pathway Program was established in New Brunswick when a report
illustrated the large financial barrier faced by immigrants to get their credentials recognized. The
report also revealed that these immigrants were accepted through the point-system program and
neither Canada nor the province could reap the benefits in terms of skill and income tax. The
Career Pathway Program is designed to remove some of these barriers so individuals can become
fully accredited in order to practice. Some specifics and takeaways from the program are:
● The interest rate on a career pathway loan is prime plus 1% and the borrower will
make interest-only payments while studying.
● The loan is also intended to help build immigrants’ credit.
● They have five years to repay the loan.
● Approximately less than 1% of borrowers defaulted on their loan.
● The loan accelerated many immigrants’ position in the New Brunswick job
market, they were earning more, and there was a distinct increase in full-time
employment.

Ontario can learn from the Career Pathway Program in New Brunswick and begin
funding and supporting programs that are dedicated to fund short-term small loans to utilize the
professional skills of immigrants.

Taking the above successful policies from Canadian provinces into account, we have two
suggestions to improve access to financial resources for newcomers in Ontario:

1. Ontario can provide funding to already existing grassroots organizations who

work to support immigrants in the province. Similar to the New Brunswick
Multicultural Council and MOSAIC in British Columbia, Ontario can approach a
number of non-profit organizations who support immigrants and hold a contest.
Interested organizations can submit proposals of how they would design and
implement such a program and the provincial government can select the
organization that has the most appealing and promising proposal.
2. Ontario can set up their own department to design and implement a program that
will distribute short-term small loans for the purpose of re-licensure. They can do
this by expanding existing loan programs (i.e the Ontario Bridging Program, WIL
Employment Connections, Ottawa Community Loan Program). This expansion
would include offering a larger number of loans and a larger loan (i.e. $15 000).
 This can help accelerate the accreditation process as well as provide loans to a
larger number of immigrants who are in need to accreditation.

When foreign trained professionals are employed in their own fields, then they are able to
contribute more to both federal and provincial taxes as well as provide services to residents of
the province. Ontario has a real economic incentive to be investing more in programs that
provide financing and monetary support to foreign trained professionals who are in need of
accreditation. Appropriately employed individuals would also allow Ontarians to benefit from
more qualified professionals in the fields of dentistry, engineering, nursing, and other
professions. Research and financial support programs in other provinces shows that in the long
term a high number of foreign trained professionals who take out loans pay back the loans in full
and become employed in their fields. Ontario can also benefit from the highly talented foreign
trained professionals who live in the province if the government implements policies that support
these individuals.

SOCIAL AND EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

Background

A growing body of research indicates that immigrants, a growing population in Canada,

face various barriers when it comes to accessing health care services. Immigrants are specifically
vulnerable to inadequate health care based on sociocultural, geographic, and economic barriers.21
Factors like age, social isolation, language proficiency, and a lack of information about available
resources can also impact the health of newly immigrated individuals. Individuals who
immigrate to Canada are at risk of mental distress; health care providers commonly identify post-
migration stress, loss of personal and cultural identity, depression, and post-traumatic stress in
newly immigrated individuals.22
Child care rates are rapidly increasing as much as 20 percent from 2014, specifically in
cities in Ontario. Furthermore, these increases in child care rates are rising faster than inflation
rates23. Fees for child care in Manitoba, Quebec, and P.E.I. are regulated through the
government, and, as a result, are generally lower than other provinces, specifically Ontario. The
cost of child care for infants in Montreal average $168 a month, while in Toronto it averages
$1,758 a month24. As a result, families who immigrate to the Greater Toronto Area face great
costs to accessing adequate child care on top of accreditation costs for their professional degrees.

21 Asanin, J., & Wilson, K. (2008). “I spent nine years looking for a doctor”: exploring access to health
care among immigrants in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Social science & medicine, 66(6), 1271-1283.
22 Kirmayer, L. J., Narasiah, L., Munoz, M., Rashid, M., Ryder, A. G., Guzder, J., ... & Pottie, K. (2011).

Common mental health problems in immigrants and refugees: general approach in primary care.
Canadian Medical Association Journal, 183(12), E959-E967.
23 https://globalnews.ca/news/3909952/childcare-costs-in-canada-rose-faster-than-inflation-in-2017/
24 Macdonald, D., & Friendly, M. (2017). Time Out: Child Care Fees in Canada 2017. Canadian Center for

Policy Alternatives, December.

Consequently, for many new immigrants, the only solution to these high costs of child care is for
one parent to stay home, resulting in a single-income family budget.25
To address these social and employment difficulties, Ontario can take inspiration from
innovative policies in other parts of the world. In this respect, Israel offers a comprehensive set
of policies that directly address immigrant integration into the workforce. Israel’s approach goes
well beyond the provision of loans and conventional financial tools that assist new immigrants to
pay for their retraining and credential recognition. Rather, Israel’s immigration strategy also
strives to make it easier for newcomers to integrate into Israeli society at large by taking a
welfare approach.
For instance, as of 2002, new immigrants to Israel are entitled to an ‘Absorption Basket’
(Sal Klita), a financial assistance package intended to help immigrants during their initial settling
in the country. The Absorption Basket includes rent assistance for the first 12 months in Israel
and covers living expenses during the period of study at an Ulpan, an institute for the intensive
study of Hebrew. (1 & 2). It is also worthy to note that single-parent families qualify for rent
assistance for up to six years. Additionally, Israeli newcomers qualify for free childcare services
which include government-funded daycare centres. In order to qualify for publicly-funded
childcare, families must meet one of the three criteria: (1) both parents must be studying full-
time (49 hr+/week) at an Ulpan; (2) both parents must be registered as job seekers at the Israeli
Employment Service (IES) or at the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration (formerly known as the
Ministry of Immigration); or (3), one of the parents must be studying full-time at an Ulpan while
the other is registered as a job seeker at the IES or the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration.
Another service that the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration purveys for new immigrants
to Israel is the provision of business consulting services which are intended to help aspiring
entrepreneurs in establishing and managing independent businesses. Some noteworthy services
included as part of this remarkable initiative are:
• Consultation and professional workshops in the fields of marketing and finance
• A leveraged fund to assist the establishment and/or expansion of businesses;
• Business grants;
• Tax consulting.
Recommendations

Many of the initiatives adopted by Israel to assist the country’s newcomer population can guide
Ontario in developing policy alternatives that accelerate the integration of new immigrants into
the labour market. Three policy recommendations, in particular, can be of great utility to
Ontario’s new immigrants:

1. Ontario can provide new immigrants with financial assistance packages - similar to
Israel’s ‘Absorption Basket’26 - designed to allow new immigrants to concentrate on

25 Man, G. (2004, June). Gender, work and migration: Deskilling Chinese immigrant women in Canada. In
Women's Studies International Forum (Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 135-148). Pergamon.
26 http://www.kolzchut.org.il/en/Absorption_Basket
 credential recognition, improving their language skills, and finding jobs commensurate
with their level of education and their professional experience by relieving them of some
of the financial burdens that accompany immigration and settling in a new country. These
packages may take on many functions and can be rendered as grants, guaranteed
minimum incomes and rent assistance.
2. Ontario can purvey free access to childcare services to relieve families of the increasing
childcare rates as to provide the financial resources needed for credential recognition
processes and retraining.
3. Ontario can provide new immigrants with business consulting services that provide the
financial education needed for aspiring entrepreneurs to establish and manage
independent businesses in their new home.

REGULATORY AND LEGISLATIVE REFORMS

Background
Ontario, from July 1st, 2016 to June 30th, 2017 became home to 98,409 immigrants out of the
272,666 that Canada received; this makes up 36% of all Canadian immigrants. To address the
large number of immigrants, many of whom are skilled and knowledgeable foreign trained
professionals, the Government of Ontario, in 2006, passed legislation in an effort to ease new
immigrants into the Ontario workforce.

The Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, and by extension the
Fairness Commissioner, is an effort to ensure that the “regulated professions and individuals
applying for registration by regulated professions are governed by registration practices 27 that
are transparent, objective, impartial and fair.” 28 However, the act fails to explicitly protect
skilled immigrants from prejudicial or subjective judgments and allows the professional
associations a great deal of independence and power with no accountability. The act states that
no order29

shall require a regulated profession to make, amend or revoke any regulation that it has
the authority to make under the Act that governs the regulated profession, but the
Fairness Commissioner may,
(a) recommend [emphasis added] to the regulated profession that it make, amend or
revoke the regulation; and

27 The legislation defines registration as “means the granting of membership, with or without conditions”.
Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, 2006; 2.
28 Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, 2006; 1
29 Defined as “If the Fairness Commissioner concludes that a regulated profession has contravened Part

III or VI or the regulations, the Fairness Commissioner may make such orders requiring compliance with
Part III or VI”. Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, 2006; 26 (1).
 (b) recommend [emphasis added] to the minister responsible for the regulated profession
that the minister exercise any power or powers that the minister has to request or require
the profession to make, amend or revoke the regulation.30

Furthermore, the act frequently uses such words as assess, consult, provide, advise but avoids
any clauses which would allow the commissioner to enforce, regulate, or monitor professional
associations in their accreditation processes. This causes concern as professional associations
may not necessarily encourage or support the notion of accepting and fostering skilled
immigrants and with the current act; the commissioner’s powers are therefore extremely limited.
The motives of the professional associations may vary but one documented motive behind
policies that may prevent foreign trained professionals from being accredited is a desire to
control the market (and the monetary value of the services or goods) by controlling the “supply”
of workers. In other words, professional associations in Ontario may have an incentive to erect
barriers for foreign trained professionals in their accreditation process in order to protect the
wages of established professionals.31

Current environment in Ontario

The issue of difficulties in the accreditation process for foreign trained professionals must be put
into the greater context of discrimination and racism nationally. Canada has experienced
increasing numbers of police-reported hate crimes (4% from 2015-2016)32, with the largest
increases of police reported hate crimes reported across Canada occurring in British Columbia
and Ontario respectively33; for example, in 2015, every 5.4 of 100,000 people in Toronto fall
victim to hate crimes.34

We also have every reason to believe that this discrimination extends to the labour market. The
Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) itself has reported that the “allegations of racial
profiling of migrant workers (is) troubling”.35 To address issues in policing, the OHRC has
recommended the establishment, “through legislation, an independent institution to undertake
proactive, independent and transparent monitoring and enforcement regarding systemic
discrimination in policing” and “enforcement powers before a court or specialized tribunal that

30 Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, 2006; 26 (2).
31 See, Hou , Feng , and Garnett Picot. “Annual Levels of Immigration and Immigrant Entry Earnings in
Canada.” Annual Levels of Immigration and Immigrant Entry Earnings in Canada, vol. 2014356, Statistics
Canada, 2014.
32 Police-reported hate crime, 2016, Statistics Canada 2017-11-28 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-

quotidien/171128/dq171128d-eng.htm
33 Ibid
34 Police-reported hate crimes, 2015, Statistics Canada 2017-6-13 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-

quotidien/170613/dq170613b-eng.htm?HPA=1
35 [9] Allegations of racial profiling of migrant workers troubling: OHRC, 2014, OHRC

http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/news_centre/allegations-racial-profiling-migrant-workers-troubling-ohrc
can order systemic remedies.”36 We believe that the Government of Ontario should combat
prevent discriminatory practices in the accreditation process in a fashion similar to policing. We
give some recommendations for addressing the challenges of foreign trained professionals
below.

Recommendations

First Recommendation: Establishment of an Ombudsman

While Ontario already does have the Ombudsman of Ontario and it does oversee the Fairness
Commissioner of Ontario, its mandate does not include the 62 professional organizations listed
in the act and therefore, is limited in its scope. Therefore, the establishment, through legislation,
of an Ombudsman to provide an avenue for complaints by the newly immigrated professionals
against the 13 non-health professions, 23 compulsory trades, and 26 health professions listed in
the Act would provide an outlet for foreign trained professionals who face discrimination or bias
in their accreditation process.

Therefore, the ICC calls on the provincial government of Ontario to create an ombudsman to
accept complaints of unfair instances, to investigate said instances, publish public memorandums
on their findings, and to make fair and binding adjudications to those affected by unfair and
biased decision-making. This would encourage educated professionals to immigrate to Ontario
and have a positive effect on the industries listed in the act, and therefore provide better goods
and services for all Ontarians. This would also make Ontario an exemplar example in the field of
integration and foreign trained professionals in a time where immigrants are increasingly facing
instances of discrimination.

Second Recommendation: Legislative interventions in the accreditation process

Beyond Ontario and Canada, one of the most successful countries in terms of integrating foreign
trained professionals is the State of Israel. Foreign-trained doctors accounted for 58% of all
doctors in Israel in 2014.37[11] This is largely due to legislative intervention in the process of
accreditation and its governing body, the Ministry of Health. Therefore, we know from the
example of Israel that legislative interventions into the accreditation process can break deadlocks
and ease the process. For example, in 2017, the process was modified by the addition of new
provisions which allow dentists with five years of professional experience the possibility of

36 “OHRC Submission to the Independent Review of Police Oversight Bodies.” Under Suspicion:
Research and Consultation Report on Racial Profiling in Ontario, 15 Nov. 2016.
www.ohrc.on.ca/en/under-suspicion-research-and-consultation-report-racial-profiling-ontario/appendix-c-
recommendations-combat-and-prevent-racial-profiling
37 https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2015/10/01/the-countries-with-the-most-foreign-trained-

doctors-infographic/#3f0d1f845731
practicing in Israel without passing examinations.38 Doctors, with 14 years of experience can
also obtain their license without taking the licensing examinations and passing a six-month
observation period. As the state controls much of the accreditation process within Israel, through
passing legislation, the process of accreditation can be modified to react to trends.

The ICC recommends that a similar approach be taken in Ontario. We recommend that the
Ontario government extend legislation directly into the accreditation process of select
professions when other means are exhausted and the accrediting bodies are unwilling or unable
to enact relevant reforms. In this way, the government of Ontario can ensure that vitally
important accreditation processes are subject to democratic oversight in the form of government
intervention. Furthermore, showing that such intervention is possible could prompt accrediting
bodies to enact reforms to preempt and avoid direct legislative intervention. We believe that such
a policy, enacted appropriately, will alleviate some of the problems that foreign trained
professionals face.

Third Recommendation: Expanding the powers of the Fairness Commissioner

In Ontario, the accreditation process is in the hands of business associations and, as mentioned
above, the Fairness Commissioner cannot forcefully address instances of discrimination and
racism. As shown in the background section, the Fairness Commissioner can only recommend
changes and it is prohibited, according to Clause 26 of the Act, to force the business associations
to change, amend or revoke any of their regulations.

Therefore, taking into account that business and professional associations have an interest in
controlling the market and the value of services and products by limiting membership to foreign
trained professionals, the effectiveness of the Fairness Commissioner as it exists is limited. Thus,
through the expansion of the Fairness Commissioner’s powers, the Government can ensure that
the accreditation process is transparent, objective, impartial and fair. Specifically, we
recommend that the Ontario Government adjust Clause 26 of the Act and allow the Fairness
Commissioner to expand its oversight power to force professional associations to change, amend,
or revoke their regulations as needed to ensure fair and transparent access to accreditation by
foreign trained professionals.

Summary

The current process for accreditation has improved with the passage of the Fair Access to
Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, 2006; however, the Act fails to follow
through with its mandate and the fundamental problems remain. While the Fairness

38http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/israel-foreign-trained-dentists-immigrating-to-israel-may-be-
exempt-from-licensing-exams/
Commissioner’s overseeing of the accreditation process has shown some success, it fails to
address the bias and opacity in the accreditation process that forms the core of the problem.
Therefore, the ICC recommends three legislative methods to improve the situation of foreign
trained professionals in Ontario:
1. The establishment of an independent body to accept, investigative, and rule over
allegation of discriminatory practices. We recommend the establishment of an
Ombudsman as it has largely been effective throughout Canada as a body for effectively
handling complaints.
2. Direct legislative involvement in the accreditation process that would expand government
authority over the accreditation process and requirements. This is based on legal
interventions in Israel: e.g. the Dentists Ordinance Amendment (No. 6) Law, 5776-2016,
made to effectively substitute years of practice for the accreditation examination.39
3. Lastly, expanding the Fairness Commissioner’s powers, through legislation, allowing this
office to play a larger role in the accreditation process. Ontario has already made great
strides in accepting and integrating immigrants from all corners of the globe; however, it
is essential that the skills and knowledge they bring be fully utilized by the province to
increase the quality of life. We recommend that the Fairness Commissioner’s powers be
expanded to issue binding directives to change, amend, or revoke the regulations of
accrediting bodies.

DISCRIMINATORY HIRING PRACTICES

Background
Anti-immigrant bias is widespread and this affects immigrants in a myriad of ways; its
effects on employment, income, and their experience are most notable. There are a number of
problematic hiring practices that act as barriers for immigrant employment. Two notable barriers
are devaluation of non-Canadian and Western education and experience, and inherent biases
towards more racialized individuals. These social biases and unofficial practices, compounded
with explicit policies and institutional barriers result in a complex system of discriminatory
hiring practices for immigrants who have professional degrees and non-Canadian work
experience.
Multiple academic studies and reports have shown that a strong bias against foreign-born
and foreign-trained professionals from employers and other employees exists. This is in part
inspired, or at least supported, by the institutional barriers and policies. For instance, the
requirement that foreign professionals need to re-credit themselves by submitting a wide-range
of documents, pay to undergo re-training, and have their experience put under question creates a

39
https://www.health.gov.il/English/Services/MedicalAndHealthProfessions/Dentistry/Pages/dent_license_
abroad.aspx
culture where foreign trained professionals are considered to be less qualified than domestic
ones.40
Although some of this retraining is intended to tease out the discrepancies between
different programs and countries’ different requirements, research has shown that the education
and experience of racial minority immigrants are more negatively looked at than their white
foreign born counterparts.41 Additionally, multiple surveys revealed that immigrants’ foreign
experience are discounted, scrutinized, and unvalued which result in both underemployment and
unemployment. The systematic devaluation of racialized immigrants’ education, the skepticism
of their country of origin, and training has resulted in overall skepticism of an accredited
immigrant’s skills.42
Although in 2013 the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) had released a
statement that declared the explicit requirement of “Canadian experience” in job postings as a
human rights violation, this practice still exists. In 2017, a report done by Ryerson University
and the University of Toronto revealed the extent to which racialized minorities and immigrants
are discriminated against during hiring. These individuals are subject to not only biases against
names but of the de facto requirement of Canadian experience. The report43 showed:
● Postings that require a university degree, Asian-named (includes East and South Asia)
applicants who have exclusively Canadian qualifications and experience are at a 20%
disadvantage for large employers and 40% disadvantage for small companies
compared to their Anglo-named applicants who have extremely similar experience
and education.
● Asian-named applicants with all foreign qualifications are at a 35% disadvantage for
large employers and over 60% disadvantage for small employers.
● Larger organizations discriminate less frequently (although discrimination still
occurs) than smaller organizations because they have more resources devoted to
recruitment, a more professionalized human resources recruitment process, and more
experience with a diverse staff.
Some of these discriminatory practices and discriminatory culture against racialized new
immigrants are expected to subside once discriminatory institutional barriers that harshly
scrutinize foreign trained professionals have been adjusted with more progressive policies.
However, research has shown that proper legislation can regulate and minimize the bias against
foreign trained professionals, racialized immigrants, and foreign experience.44
Recommendations

40
Louis et al. Bias against foreign-born or foreign-trained doctors
41
Louis et al. Bias against foreign-born or foreign-trained doctors
42
Esses VM, Dietz J, Bhardwaj A. The role of prejudice in the discounting of immigrant skills. In: Mahalingam R, ed.
Cultural Psychology of Immigrants. Mahwah, NJ:
43
Which Employers Discriminate
44
Barron 2012
 There are policies and legislation that the province of Ontario can adopt to counter these
discriminatory practices. These policies and practices include mandatory audits, combating bias
at the application stage, encouraging human resource departments to monitor diversity on the one
hand, and a series of incentives that can help the adoption of these policies on the other.
Running mandatory audits of organizations’ and companies’ hires every 3-5 years.
Effective auditing can address discriminatory practices since it can identify employers’
discriminatory hiring practices. Studies show that audits reveal observable variations in
applicants’ quality and unbiased measures of employer discrimination than survey data. A
regular audit can highlight the biases of employers during the hiring process. The conclusions of
audits can lead to changes in company policies that try to ensure fairer hiring practices.
Encourage the practice of having hiring committees of more than two people to review
resumes. Committees should consider all relevant work experience regardless of where it was
obtained as well as to anonymize resumes to deter unconscious bias. These committees should
also ensure the hiring rubric frames the job qualifications and criteria in terms of competencies
and job-related knowledge and skills rather than requiring prior Canadian work and using
subjective language such as “fitting in” when considering an applicant’s ability to succeed.
Hiring committees should be open to not only non-Canadian experience/education but should
accept non-local references as well.
It is also crucial for human resources (HR) departments to actively monitor diversity
ratios of new recruits to make sure they reflect the diversity of competent applicants overall.
Currently, this is not implemented on all levels of HR and instead varies from organization to
organization. HR should provide all staff with mandatory education and training on human rights
and cultural competence, as well as a set minimum number of interviews given to
racialized/immigrant applicants. Each municipality should set a minimum according to their
specific demographics. This has shown to tackle unconscious bias.45
The above described practices can be incentivized by the Ontario government through a
number of policies. The Ontario government has already adopted a grant incentive for companies
to hire individuals who are in need of extra training however this grant, entitled the Canadian
Ontario Job Grant, does not explicitly target immigrant hires. This vague language fails to
incentivize companies to hire immigrants or racialized individuals. Introducing more targeted tax
and financial incentives may lead to some more direct results.
Germany, in 2008, committed to €150 million EUR to its equal opportunities program in
Universities. Germany noted that 15% of tenured professors in the country are female and this
pushed the government (both federal and state) to create financial incentives for universities. The
government committed to 200 additional posts for highly qualified female academics and they
would be compensated for five years at €150 000/year each.46 This process included selecting
universities’ bids for the funding and the funding was only secure once the universities had

45
TACKLING UNCONSCIOUS BIAS IN HIRING PRACTICES: THE PLIGHT OF THE ROONEY RULE, Brian W. Collins (2007)
46
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/sexism-in-germany-universities-rewarded-for-hiring-women-
professors-a-576238.html
submitted plans that illustrated their long-term and sustainable commitment to gender equality
and promoting more women into top academic positions in the university. 47 Overall, this
program was deemed successful. In the last 12 years, the program has led to a double in female
professorships in the nation (from 10% to 20%).

Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) suggested a more targeted tax
credit to hire immigrants.48 Small and medium sized businesses will be given a tax credit for
hiring immigrants in order to provide employers with the resources to build their internal
capacity to work effectively with their new Canadians. OCASI believes that this tax credit would
further strengthen and stabilize these companies’ HR departments and lay out long-term
structures to streamline this kind of employment.49 This tax incentive would ideally be working
against ingrained biases against foreign trained individuals, foreign experience, and racialized
individuals because companies would be incentivized to employ and invest in these educated and
qualified individuals.50

Some policy suggestions from the information above include:

1. Ontario can take the German model and commit a certain amount of money to create
financial incentives for diverse hires (i.e. immigrant and racialized individuals).
2. Ontario can invite companies to bid on the funding by providing plans that illustrate
their long-term and sustainable commitment to diversity in the workplace and the
promotion of racialized employees to executive and management positions.
3. Ontario can give tax credit to small and medium sized businesses when they hire
immigrants in order to provide employers with the resources to build their internal
capacity to work effectively with new Canadians as well as provide necessary training
4. Ontario can also provide this tax credit to also hire racialized and marginalized
individuals in hopes of diversifying companies to combat unconscious biases.

Discriminatory hiring practices are rampant and have reinforced the systematic
devaluation of immigrants’ experience, education, and labour. If the government of Ontario
implements meaningful policies and funds targeted projects to eradicate discriminatory hiring
practices, the effects would be felt among immigrants and racialized Canadians alike. These
policies can also ensure that foreign trained professionals can gain meaningful employment once
they have become accredited by Ontario’s professional accrediting institutions. Diversifying our
provinces’ workplaces would lead to more equitable companies and institutions. It is imperative
for the province to take meaningful action and implement policies that would incentivize
workplaces to be more equitable in their hiring.

47
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/sexism-in-germany-universities-rewarded-for-hiring-women-
professors-a-576238.html
48
http://www.ocasi.org/ocasi-statement-tax-credit-hire-immigrants
49
http://www.ocasi.org/ocasi-statement-tax-credit-hire-immigrants
50
http://www.ocasi.org/ocasi-statement-tax-credit-hire-immigrants
CONCLUSION
Above, we have taken a sweeping look at the multifaceted and complex problems
constituting the dire situation of foreign trained professionals. We have identified problems in
financing, social and employment support, discrimination in the labour market, and legislative
deficiencies in the accreditation process. We have recommended increased financing, expanded
social and employment support programs, policies that combat labour market discrimination, and
legislative reforms to improve the situation of foreign trained professionals.
As such, we expect Ontario’s political parties to examine these recommendations and
respond with their plans to address the problems facing foreign trained professionals.
We encourage all parties to keep in contact with us and approach us with any questions
you may have about this report and the recommendations therein. You may reach our Policy
Chair, Pouyan Tabasinejad, at [email protected].