Government Aims to Speed up Recognition of Foreign Credentials

Under the Pan-Canadian Framework for Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications, internationally-trained workers submitting an application to be licensed or registered to work in certain fields will be advised within one year whether their qualifications will be recognized.

A Forum of Labour Market Ministers consisting of federal, provincial and territorial representatives collaborated on the Framework, which was endorsed by Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, Diane Finley, and Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney.

The Framework states that governments across Canada will work towards better pre-arrival services, assessments that are fair, transparent, consistent and timely across Canada, and improved workforce participation services for newcomers.

The framework will initially be implemented in the following eight occupations by December 31, 2010:

  • Engineers
  • Architects
  • Financial Auditors and Accountants
  • Registered Nurses
  • Pharmacists
  • Medical Laboratory Technologists
  • Occupational Therapists
  • Physiotherapists

During the next phase of implementation ending December 2012, the framework will be implemented in the following six occupations:

  • Engineering Technicians
  • Dentists
  • Licensed Practical Nurses
  • Medical Radiation Technologists
  • Physicians
  • Teachers (K-12)

Governments at the Federal, provincial and territorial level will work with regulatory bodies, post-secondary institutions and other key partners to implement the framework.     

Through its Economic Action Plan, the Federal government is investing $50 million over two years to make the process of assessing and recognizing foreign qualifications more efficient. The funding is intended to develop standards for the timely handling of requests, identify the priority occupations for developing recognition standards; help people who want to come to Canada start the assessment process before they arrive, and develop the principles of timeliness, transparency, fairness and predictability set out by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to guide the process.