Context

The Big Picture Problem

Canada opens its doors and encourages immigrants to come here. But when they arrive, many of these skilled and experienced people are often denied the opportunity to use the very qualifications that brought them here in the first place.

The frustration and despair can be overwhelming: the taxi driver with a PhD, the engineer working as a security guard, the physician surviving in a janitorial job. Thousands of these stories emphasize the lost opportunities for our communities, and our businesses.

In 2007, nearly 15,000 skilled immigrants arrived in BC, with the promise of opportunity.

Instead many of them found:

• The qualifications that earned them a ticket to Canada are not recognized and re-qualifying is an onerous, expensive and sometimes an impossible process
• Difficulties in obtaining interviews
• Low-paying work that does not use their skills and experience

Many new immigrants want to take the courses they need to upgrade their skills in Canada. But frequently they are relegated to jobs where they work long days for little pay. It leaves them little time or money to take training that could assist them in their job search.

At the same time, many BC employers have faced a skills shortage in recent years. The economic downturn has changed this situation temporarily, but forecasts still predict there will be more skills shortages in the future as Baby Boomers retire in droves. When this happens, our economy will need the talents of skilled immigrants.

The Immigrant Employment Council of BC is involving business leaders in the solution.