New Canadians frustrated by search for skilled jobs

[Maserati]

MOD EDIT: Don't copy and paste full articles please.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...f-5f92f8a5c16a
Anyone views?

[rubecube]

So basically, it's hard to find a well-paying job in country where you can't speak the language and your credentials are recognized. Well colour me surprised.

[Maserati]

but what if you can speak the language and your credentials are recognized?lol

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Maserati

but what if you can speak the language and your credentials are recognized?lol

It's hard to recognize credentials from other countries in such fields as law and medicine. I'm sure Colombian law has some vast differences to Canadian law. Even if you have the credentials, companies still want experience. It's no different than a fresh-faced kid with BA coming out of school and expecting to immediatley go into upper-management. I really don't get the big deal here.

What I do think the government needs to do is to create some sort standard performance testing for people with foreign credentials to see if they can perform up to Canadian standards.

[Maserati]

for fields such as law,medicine and education there would be differences and a need for those with degrees in those areas to be able to meet canadian standards before seeking employment. Not so for management etc

[Devils'Advocate]

Well, it really is Immigration Canada that FUBARed this one. The point system they have means that only the best and the brightest get into Canada. If you are a computer programmer, come on in. If you are a doctor, come on in. If you are an engineer, come on in. Oh, and by the way, there is no tech boom and the doctors and engineers can't get certified. So into the taxi cabs for you.

There desperately needs a better way to get medical certification. I was in a French class with a woman who was a doctor in India for 10 years. She really knew her stuff. However, to become a doctor she'd have to go back to school for 4+ years. A single mother with a family to raise, she couldn't afford to go back to school to learn stuff she already knew. Frustrated, she became a lab technician at Health Canada. But it's not like we don't have a glut of doctors, eh?

The other issue is that we are bringing in TOO MANY skilled immigrants into sectors that do not require them. I remember hearing the story of a girl that came to Canada from China to work for Nortel. They promised her that they would pay for her English lessons and subsidized housing as long as she worked for them, so she spent her life savings and her parents life savings to move to Canada. She was there three weeks before Nortel laid her off. She had no money, no grasp of the language and no way home.

What kind of workers does Canada need? Manual labourers, restaurant workers, and people to stock shelves in stores.... which is mostly what is pouring across America's southern border. Maybe we can trade some Java programmers for a few illegals? Seriously - we have a glut of well educated people driving taxis, and they have a glut of unskilled labour entering their country.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Maserati

for fields such as law,medicine and education there would be differences and a need for those with degrees in those areas to be able to meet canadian standards before seeking employment. Not so for management etc

Again, I think with management it would come down to experience in the marketplace. Immigrants, like anyone else new to workforce should expect to have to advance through performance.

[Maserati]

^^I agree..in some cases there is no replacement for experience.

[CrusaderPi]

Cry me a river. If they can't get a decent job here they can go back to wherever they came from. I'm sure the job opportunites and life style will be about the same. What? They aren't? Well, then shut up and make the best of it or go home. Frankly I don't care about how hard it is here for new people.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

Cry me a river. If they can't get a decent job here they can go back to wherever they came from. I'm sure the job opportunites and life style will be about the same. What? They aren't? Well, then shut up and make the best of it or go home. Frankly I don't care about how hard it is here for new people.

And that's the other side of it too. If you did your research and sitll came over, I don't think you can really bitch. If the research wasn't done then ignorance is your own fault as well.

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

Cry me a river. If they can't get a decent job here they can go back to wherever they came from..

Well, I guess in one way we should be crying - isn't our birth rate below replacement rate? So in one way, if not for immigration, our population wouldn't be doing so great? (yes, I know this is relatively speaking)

Yuppers: http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features...migration.html

• Immigration helps compensate for Canada’s declining birthrate.
  A 1999 Parliamentary report stated that if birth rates remain stable, in 25 years death rates will actually exceed birth rates. At that point, immigration will account for the entire net increase in Canada’s population.
  Source: Library of Parliament, Canada’s Immigration Program

Never heard of this website before, but if it is backing its claim up with a direct link to the government of Canada, the claim must have some sort of credibility...

[RedHot25]

Another point from that same website (I just googled, so more sources would be needed to back this up):

Immigration helps compensate for the impact of Canada’s aging population on the workforce.
Between 1991 and 2001, the number of Canadians between the ages of 45 and 64 increased by over 35 percent. Analysts predict that, by 2015, the percentage of Canadians aged 65 or over, the normal age of retirement in Canada, will have increased to the point where immigration will account for the entire net increase in labour growth.

[killer_carlson]

I practice in immigration law and one of the biggest complaints I hear is from those in the trades who say that while the points system recognizes formal education it is seriously lacking in recognizing experience in the trades gained from on the job experience.

Having said that, there is a review under way that will hopefully fix some of the holes in the system.

[rubecube]

Can someone explain to me why a declining birth rate is a problem? I know I wouldn't mind a few less people in the city.

[Sylvanfan]

I'm trying to get a bunch of work done to my house so I can sell it. I can't find anyone to landscape ($2000 for $400 worth of goods and about 16 man hours labour, paint ($1200 for $300 worth of pain, rental equipment and 8 man hours labour), or do flooring ($600 for what took me 10 hours labour and $78 in rental fees and nails) for a reasonable price. They all want 2 to 3 times what I make in a day as a draftsman to do about that much work. In short I'm better off doing the grunt labour myself and finding someone else to my drafting job for me, that'll save me money in the end!

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Can someone explain to me why a declining birth rate is a problem? I know I wouldn't mind a few less people in the city.

Well, the current population demographics are such that there is a large sized population bulge in the baby boomer generation.

That generation is going to retire at roughly around the same time period, and without ample people to replace them, and ample people paying taxes to keep social programs going... the welfare state systems in place are going to be severely underserviced to meet the needs of that group of people.

Not to mention, me and people in our 20s are going to be feeling the crunch of it, possibly in the form of higher taxes or simply not have access to basic services.

Ideally you want to have a pretty stable population, with no "explosions" or anomalies in certain age groups to keep everything stable.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Well, the current population demographics are such that there is a large sized population bulge in the baby boomer generation.

That generation is going to retire at roughly around the same time period, and without ample people to replace them, and ample people paying taxes to keep social programs going... the welfare state systems in place are going to be severely underserviced to meet the needs of that group of people.

Not to mention, me and people in our 20s are going to be feeling the crunch of it, possibly in the form of higher taxes or simply not have access to basic services.

Ideally you want to have a pretty stable population, with no "explosions" or anomalies in certain age groups to keep everything stable.

That's what I kind of thought, but it should be resolved once the old codgers are out of the way, right?

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by rubecube

That's what I kind of thought, but it should be resolved once the old codgers are out of the way, right?

Oh man, I can't remember that line from the Simpsons except for this part: "Homer, stop reading that Ross Perot pamplet".

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

...they can go back to wherever they came from.

Wow. I had hoped we had evolved beyond that phrase.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Wow. I had hoped we had evolved beyond that phrase.

We're not even beyond "The Jews own the world."