Quote:
Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor
Do you realize that it is quite easy for NAFTA professionals to come and work in Canada. In fact it is very easy as far as obtaining authorization from the federal government to work in Canada. All a NAFTA professional needs to obtain a work permit is a job offer and usualy a degree in their field.
It is not the government that holds these people back it is the professional organizations that license and over see their occupations. They are ultimately the ones that give them permission to work in that field in each province.
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You need professional credentials recognized before you can apply for NAFTA Professional TN status. We agree on that. But of course, that's where the headaches lie.
The issue is to an extent the professional organizations, but they are often mandated by the states/provinces. You can not apply to the Washington Department of Health for licensure without the visa screen (dissection of education, experience, personal background, etc.)and successful RN-CLEX, despite foreign licensure. This is arduous and time consuming, the Canadian version is roughly equivalent.
To come practice law in Canada, even a top Harvard graduate would require between 2-10 tests mandated by the NCA (its apparently fairly random and dependant on who screens you) to prove competency in basic Canadian legal standards. These happen twice a year. After that, they would be expected to article before being allowed to attempt the bar (the amount of which is lessened by years of experience). Why would anyone want to do that? The answer is few do. I'd wager that most American educated professionals who jump through the hoops are in fact Canadians, or have family that is.