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Alghabra calls for progress update on foreign trained credentials Ottawa - Omar Alghabra, Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Erindale, recently wrote to the Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development. In the letter, Mr. Alghabra requested a progress update on the Conservative’s election promise to initiate concrete measures that would aid newcomers with foreign professional and academic qualifications. He also emphasized the necessity and urgency to recognize foreign trained credentials. November 1, 2006 The Hon. Diane Finley, P.C., M.P Human Resources and Social Development Place du Portage, Phase IV, 14th Floor 140 Promenade du Portage Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0J9 Dear Minister, Many of Canada’s newcomers are professionals who are unable to work in their field of training because they face difficulties in getting their professional and academic qualifications recognized. Most immigrants, who are often accepted precisely because of their education and professional experience, are shocked to learn upon their arrival to Canada that their qualifications are not accepted. This underutilization of skills creates a loss to the Canadian economy which could benefit from their expertise (some estimate this loss to be close to $11 billion annually), not to mention the negative social ramifications that this has on these individuals. While this file falls under provincial jurisdiction, the federal government can play a bigger role in setting expectations and benchmarks, in the same way it has done so in areas such as health care and education. During the previous election campaign the Conservative party promised to produce concrete measures to help new Canadians overcome those obstacles. I recognize that the 2006 Budget has mentioned the intent to create an agency to work with foreign-trained immigrants on reducing many of the obstacles they face when attempting to work in their trained profession. My constituents and I are very interested in receiving an update on the progress and the work of this agency. I want to reiterate the urgency of this matter and encourage you to share with Canadians the plan of your department to define and implement the mandate of this agency. I look forward to working with you and your department to tackle this issue and many other issues of concern to Canadians. Sincerely, Omar Alghabra, M.P. Mississauga-Erindale CC: The Hon. Geoff Regan, Critic for Human Resources and Skills Development CC: The Hon. Bonnie Brown, Critic for Social Development |
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