SOON YOU WON’T NEED ‘CANADIAN EXPERIENCE’ TO FIND WORK HERE

From THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR, IMIGRATION, TRAINING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

The Ontario government is introducing legislation that, if passed, would make it the first province in Canada to help more internationally-trained immigrants work in the fields they’ve studied in by banning the use of Canadian work experience as a requirement in job postings or application forms.

This change would help more qualified candidates progress in the interview process and follows historic legislation to prohibit regulated professions from requiring discriminatory Canadian work experience requirements in licensing for more than 30 occupations, which comes into effect this month.

“For far too long, too many people arriving in Canada have been funnelled toward dead-end jobs they’re overqualified for,” said David Piccini, Ontario Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. “We need to ensure these people can land well-paying and rewarding careers that help tackle the labour shortage. When newcomers to Ontario get a meaningful chance to contribute, everyone wins.”

Ontario will nominate 16,500 immigrants for permanent residence through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) in various critical sectors such as health care and the skilled trades. To ensure the province is selecting the best candidates available, the government is also proposing changes that would increase the number of international students in Ontario eligible to apply to the OINP by revising eligibility requirements for hundreds of one-year college graduate certificate programs around the province. 

“Ontario is a global leader in welcoming newcomers from a wide array of backgrounds, cultures and faiths around the world,” said Michael Ford, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism. “This change will help support families as they start their journey in their new homes, create more vibrant communities and help ensure businesses have the talent they need.”

The government is also proposing changes to improve oversight and accountability of how regulated professions like accountants, architects and geoscientists use third-party organizations to assess international qualifications to ensure assessments are done in a way that is fast, transparent and fair. Ontario welcomes more immigrants than any other province each year and research has shown that helping internationally-trained newcomers work in the professions they studied for could increase the province’s GDP by up to $100 billion over five years.

A few quick facts:

There have been over 162,000 immigrants arriving in Ontario from January to September 2023.

Ontario is investing $100 million in 2023-24 in services that help newcomers learn English or French, settle, access training and find jobs. This also includes additional funding for 2023-24 to enhance the Ontario Bridge Training Program and Ontario Bridging Participant Assistance Program to expand access to foreign qualification recognition supports.

Ontario was the first province in Canada to ban the use of discriminatory Canadian work experience requirements in regulated professions.

Earlier this year, Professional Engineers Ontario were the first regulated profession to remove the requirement for Canadian experience from their registration criteria since the government took action and Professional Geoscientists Ontario recently did as well, potentially helping thousands of otherwise qualified professionals find jobs.

There are over 900 programs offered across Ontario colleges that award an Ontario College Graduate Certificate and most are one-year programs.

At the request of the province, the OINP’s allocation from the federal government will more than double from 9,000 in 2021, to over 18,000 by 2025.

“Canadian experience continues to be one of the most prominent barriers faced by many newcomers in their search for meaningful employment,” said Sara Asalya, Executive Director, Newcomer Women's Services Toronto. “Introducing legislation to ban the Canadian experience requirements from job postings and ads is a big leap forward in the right direction to eliminate systemic barriers facing newcomers, and to facilitate pathways to their labour market inclusion.”

“We are pleased to see these additional measures being introduced to further address the unfair barriers internationally-trained immigrants face in the job market,” said Tonie Chaltas, CEO, Achev. “Removing discriminatory Canadian work experience requirements is a necessary step towards creating a more inclusive labour force.”

“If we want to attract immigrants to Ontario to fill vacant jobs in a competitive landscape and help meet the needs of our growing economy, we have an obligation to remove the barriers to finding work in their areas of expertise once they arrive in Canada,” said Elise Herzig, Executive Director, JIAS Toronto. “The removal of the requirement for Canadian work experience is a big step forward in ensuring newcomers have the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to our economy and reach their potential. This legislation also speaks to the desire of our regulated professions to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for newcomers.”