Canada / Foreign Skilled Workers / Language ability and education credentials, greater weight to youth

New requirements for immigrants coming to Canada under the federal skilled worker program will emphasize the ability to speak English or French and give greater weight to young applicants, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced Wednesday.

Once potential immigrants have their language skills assessed, their education credentials will be assessed by an organization designated by Kenney. That list of organizations hasn’t been announced yet.

A news release from Citizenship and Immigration Canada says the assessment of foreign educational credentials “will provide prospective newcomers with a more realistic understanding of how their credentials compare to education standards in Canada. It will also give them the opportunity to upgrade their education prior to coming to Canada if they choose.”

Kenney said the problem of foreign-trained doctors who run corner stores or engineers who drive cabs is partly due to professional licensing bodies that act as gatekeepers. But, he said, Canada has also admitted some foreign-trained professionals who don’t meet Canadian standards.

“What is the point of inviting someone here, often from a developing country, who thinks that they’re going to be able to work as an engineer, when [after] they do the assessment with the engineering college, it turns out that they are by the Canadian standard considered an engineering technician with the equivalent of a community college degree rather than a master’s degree?” Kenney said.

“This is about truth in advertising.… If your level of education is not at or close to the Canadian standard, why would we invite you to come in to Canada, almost certainly to face underemployment, if not unemployment?”

Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from

via Skilled worker program to emphasize language ability, youth – Canada – CBC News.