International job credentials mean more in British Columbia now than they did before, but too many workers in the province are still under-employed.
Ravi Parmar, B.C.'s parliamentary secretary for international credentials, joined Sheila Malcolmson, B.C. minister of social development and poverty reduction, for a roundtable on the topic Wednesday, Aug. 21, at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre in Nanaimo.
The provincial government introduced the international credential recognition act last fall and the regulations came into effect earlier this summer.
"Now the work continues to ensure that the legislation is doing its job鈥�" Parmar said. "It's part of our government's work to ensure that we finally move away from hearing the stories of barriers, obstacles and challenges to stories of people who come here, who make our communities their homes and be part of our economy and part of our workforce."
The new rules eliminated Catch-22 Canadian work experience requirements and redundant English language tests, and legislated that regulatory bodies start collecting data on numbers of international applicants versus domestic applicants, for example.
"If regulatory bodies are not following the rules, not only will they get fined, but they will be publicly shamed as well, because all of that information will be publicly available," Parmar said.
The parliamentary secretary said the province wants to eliminate "gatekeeping" and unreasonable re-training requirements. If British Columbia and Canada isn't a desirable place for immigrants to live and work, that's a "reputational risk," he said.
Malcolmson said the new legislation removes "unnecessary and in some cases, mean-spirited barriers" to recognizing international credentials. She said people will be able to take pride in their work if they can work in their field of expertise and make an income that supports their family.
At this week's roundtable, there was some optimism about the changes to international credentials, but also confirmation of the problems that exist. Malcolmson said locally, her office will be advised by Work B.C. and the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society about the experiences of newcomers in their job searches.
"We need all hands on deck to build community-supporting services and jobs that are necessary," she said.
