Government office to help foreign professionals

TORONTO - Ajay Raukela is one of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who arrive in Canada every year hoping to be able to work in their professions.

The 36-year-old mechanical engineer, who quit his job as deputy-general manager at an automotive plant in India last month before coming to Canada, said he has been unable to find out where "good jobs'' are advertised in this country.

"The best job I've been offered, that's somewhat related to what I used to do, is at a car shop ... to change oil,'' he said.

It is people like Raukela that the government hopes to help through the Foreign Credentials Referral Office -- a new project that promises to help foreign-trained professionals have their credentials assessed and recognized even before they arrive in the country.

"Too often I run into people who spent two to three years waiting to come to Canada,'' said Diane Finley, the minister of citizenship and immigration who announced the new project Thursday in Toronto.

"Then they come here and it takes them two years to find out where to get their credentials assessed ... then they find out they have to go to school for two years, by which time they can't afford it,'' she said.

The project, which is expected to cost the government $32.2 million in the first five years, will help newcomers "navigate through the complex system of foreign credential recognition,'' Finley said.

The RFCO's branch offices have opened in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax and Winnipeg and the government plans to have them up and running at 320 locations across the country by fall 2007.

In an effort to attract foreign skilled workers the government has opened similar offices in China, India and the Philippines -- a pilot project that Finley said might be expanded if results are positive.

The services offered at the RFCO's offices include in-person and online information to perspective immigrants on how to get their credentials recognized, as well as detailed information on Canada's labour market and job availability.

A new website -- www.credentials.gc.ca -- and a new search engine called "Working in Canada'' have been set up to help newcomers identify occupations for which they might be qualified.

The website lists all regulatory bodies in charge of recognizing those credentials as well as information on foreign affiliates of Canadian post-secondary institutions where newcomers can get their credentials assessed before they come to the country.

Service Canada will also provide information to immigrants already in Canada by telephone at 1-888-854-1805.

Finley also announced $18.8 million over the next four years in federal funding for several provinces to enhance their online information about settling and working across the country. Ontario, which receives more than half of Canada's immigrants each year, will receive $10 million, followed by British Columbia with $2.6 million and Alberta with $1.2 million.

Wai Young, the head of the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance, which represents 450 immigrant and refugee agencies, called the new project a step in the right direction.

"Newcomers will now be able to actually go to one website in stead of surfing around,'' said Young, the daughter of a Chinese immigrant who came to Canada 40 years ago.

But she urged the government to do more, because providing information to newcomers does not mean they are actually getting a job, she said.

If the government does not help immigrants and refugees "unlock their potential'' the future for Canada, where the population is aging and fertility rates are dropping, will be grim, Young said.

She said lack of people and skilled workers have already forced some business in Alberta to reduce their hours of operations, while in Newfoundland whole communities have boarded up the houses and moved to the cities.

Unable to get "the good job'' he was looking for, Raukela, the Indian immigrant, attended Finley's announcement Thursday.

Unsure what to make of the new government project, he said he would check out the website.

"I am not giving up,'' he said.

"I'll continue to search for a job as an engineer ... until the savings run out,'' he said.