A while ago, my friend asked me to write an article about her immigration experience. Each and every immigrant has their own story to tell. For many, their paths to Canada have not been as rosy as most people perceive. I kept forgetting about my friend’s request until last week when my Teaching Assistant (TA) told me that she has decided to go back to Holland with her fiancé next year. They have been very disappointed with their Canadian experience. I don’t know her well enough because she just came to my class to substitute for another TA this term. I told her to stay in Canada at least till they have received their citizenship. To my surprise, she told me that they have received their citizen status for a while; however, they have been very frustrated with their career choices here. They want to go back to Europe where their families are and where their skills and education credentials would be recognized and valued.
My TA’s immigration experience is very similar to many new professional immigrants in Canada; they have a hard time finding suitable jobs here. My TA graduated from a very famous European university with a master degree. In Holland, she worked as an educational psychologist. Her fiancé was originally from Belgium. Both of them came to Canada a couple years ago. Canada loves this kind of immigrants from the old countries. They have no problem passing the Canadian immigration point system because they are young professionals; however, it is a different story for them once they have arrived.
Canadian immigration system does not have a plan in place to help these young professionals look for suitable careers. Once they have arrived, they have to convert their degrees to the Canadian equivalencies and seek a job that would accept their “foreign” (or non-Canadian) trained experiences. It sounds easy, but road blocks are actually everywhere along the path.
They are not alone in Canada though. There are tons of professional immigrants prowling the cities looking for jobs related to their past professional fields. You can easily find a PhD driving a taxi, a doctor working as a technician, or an engineer working at the construction site. Why? The reason is that Canada welcomes skilled professionals; however, many of these people have difficulties securing an equivalent job once they have landed. Companies usually ask for “Canadian” experiences. If no company is willing to give them an opportunity, how on earth could they get a Canadian experience?
Most people argue that the language barrier may be an issue; however, most new skilled immigrants who have reached the point system to arrive in Canada do have the ability to speak fluent English. The worst is that sometimes these highly skilled professionals, such as medical doctors, have to be recertified, and the process would take years. Many of them simply could not afford to go through the prolonged process because they have a family to feed; therefore, they would have to take on a job and sometimes many jobs unrelated to their own profession in order to survive.
My TA told me that her final draw was due to the rejection from an Australian university here in Canada. They simply rejected her application to the Faculty of Education in Canada. In Canada, a teacher needs dual degrees, including a Bachelor of Education degree, to teach in the public school system. It is very difficult to get in the Faculty of Education at any university here. That’s why many Canadians travel far to the States for their teachers’ colleges. Some even travel to England or Australia to pursue their education degree. Many countries such as Australia and USA are also trying to set up their off-campus sites in Canada to serve the needs of Canadian teachers-to-be. Lately, some of them have been successfully accredited by the College of Teachers to set up satellite campuses here in Ontario. Apparently, the tuition is extremely high.
In order to comfort her, I told her about my own experience - how I become a teacher here.
(To be continued)
My TA’s immigration experience is very similar to many new professional immigrants in Canada; they have a hard time finding suitable jobs here. My TA graduated from a very famous European university with a master degree. In Holland, she worked as an educational psychologist. Her fiancé was originally from Belgium. Both of them came to Canada a couple years ago. Canada loves this kind of immigrants from the old countries. They have no problem passing the Canadian immigration point system because they are young professionals; however, it is a different story for them once they have arrived.
Canadian immigration system does not have a plan in place to help these young professionals look for suitable careers. Once they have arrived, they have to convert their degrees to the Canadian equivalencies and seek a job that would accept their “foreign” (or non-Canadian) trained experiences. It sounds easy, but road blocks are actually everywhere along the path.
They are not alone in Canada though. There are tons of professional immigrants prowling the cities looking for jobs related to their past professional fields. You can easily find a PhD driving a taxi, a doctor working as a technician, or an engineer working at the construction site. Why? The reason is that Canada welcomes skilled professionals; however, many of these people have difficulties securing an equivalent job once they have landed. Companies usually ask for “Canadian” experiences. If no company is willing to give them an opportunity, how on earth could they get a Canadian experience?
Most people argue that the language barrier may be an issue; however, most new skilled immigrants who have reached the point system to arrive in Canada do have the ability to speak fluent English. The worst is that sometimes these highly skilled professionals, such as medical doctors, have to be recertified, and the process would take years. Many of them simply could not afford to go through the prolonged process because they have a family to feed; therefore, they would have to take on a job and sometimes many jobs unrelated to their own profession in order to survive.
My TA told me that her final draw was due to the rejection from an Australian university here in Canada. They simply rejected her application to the Faculty of Education in Canada. In Canada, a teacher needs dual degrees, including a Bachelor of Education degree, to teach in the public school system. It is very difficult to get in the Faculty of Education at any university here. That’s why many Canadians travel far to the States for their teachers’ colleges. Some even travel to England or Australia to pursue their education degree. Many countries such as Australia and USA are also trying to set up their off-campus sites in Canada to serve the needs of Canadian teachers-to-be. Lately, some of them have been successfully accredited by the College of Teachers to set up satellite campuses here in Ontario. Apparently, the tuition is extremely high.
In order to comfort her, I told her about my own experience - how I become a teacher here.
(To be continued)
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