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Keen newcomers thwarted

Long process of accreditation called wasteful

By: Carol Sanders

Posted: 04/18/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Abby Buenafe of the Philippines found her way through the accreditation process to get back to nursing in Canada, but officials say the process is more onerous than it needs to be. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Abby Buenafe was an operating-room nurse with four years' experience in the Philippines.

To come to Winnipeg in 2000, she took a demotion to work in a nursing home as a licensed practical nurse. Her full credentials weren't recognized until she took the registered nursing exam a year-and-a-half later.

Zita Somakoko, who qualified as a pharmacist in her home country in Africa, came to Winnipeg more than six years ago. She hasn't been able to get through a lengthy licensing process while working and raising a family.

"It takes a while to get accreditation off the ground," said Monika Feist, who runs a non-profit agency. The Success Skills Centre started in 1985 to help foreign-trained professionals get to work in their field. The backlog of those underemployed professionals in Manitoba needs to be addressed, she said.

"The province keeps saying eight out of 10 are getting jobs related to their occupation," said Feist. "That's a myth. I don't know where they go for their sample."

It's more like a third, said Feist, who's worked with newcomers, government and industry for decades.

"They may be working but not in related jobs (that match their professional skills)." They can't afford not to. "They need to feed their families. It's heart-breaking." It takes a long time to have foreign credentials recognized here, she said.

She estimates one-third of skilled workers are able to get to work in their field within a few years of arriving. Another third may never be able to meet the requirements of their profession while struggling to support their families in a new country.

Another third needs more time and preparation.

"You send them away to get language training. They grab any job and come back in two or three years."

Adapting to a new country while navigating a bureaucratic maze for skills recognition can be too much to learn at once, she said.

"It's information overload for them," said Feist. "Clients come back a number of times before they're ready."

But not for much longer. The province has told Feist the non-profit centre is done as of March 31 next year.

"The province doesn't see why they need to come back." They'll be able to access provincial-government START program workshops, said Feist.

"They think they should get the service and out the door they go," she said. "That's not the process of immigration," said the woman, herself an immigrant. "There are so many barriers -- particularly the barriers of accreditation. It takes some time. It's at least a three-year process" for most.

She's glad federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is trying to resolve backlogs in the system, she said.

"I would've said 'Stop all immigration until they fix credential-recognition programming.' "

There are programs that help professionals meet the requirements of Manitoba but then more barriers will appear, said Feist.

"We've got systemic things we need to fix." She recalled a client who was a nurse from Poland who came to Manitoba. She took a nursing job in Germany and gave up trying to have her credentials recognized here, said Feist.

"The EU has been able to do it -- to move professionals into occupations in a short time. Why can't we be doing it in Canada?"

She wonders why supervisors who aren't used for assessing foreign-trained doctors and engineers on the job while they wait to get into one-year certification programs.

Settling newcomers is costly, and maybe the government should maximize the return on its investment by helping professionals already here before welcoming more who will be underemployed, she said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 18, 2012 0

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