Canada to fast-track foreign docs, other skilled professionals

Canada, 18th April: Canada is planning to open doors to foreign docs and other skilled professionals to meet the growing demand in the nation.

The planned move is a part of several steps by Canada to reform immigration process. This was announced by Canada Minister of Citizenship Jason Kenney in London at a meeting with the London Free Press editorial board yesterday.

Eased entry for professionals—Kenney said the nation wants to get qualified foreigners out of underemployment after coming to Canada.

So, the purpose is to help qualified immigrants stay away from working in corner stores or becoming taxi cabbies.

In Canada, it is a common norm for many immigrants including highly qualified professionals and even foreign-trained doctors to take to taxi driving in the absence of suitable jobs for them. And Canada wants to stop all this at the earliest by reforming rules for Canada immigration, Kenney informed.

Canada intends to make amendments to Immigration and Refugee Protection Act along with allowing municipal and provincial governments as well as businesses to choose immigrants on the basis of their occupation and the demand for the skills possessed by them, Kenney announced during the meet in London, Ontario.

Medicine, engineering to top priority list--Another plan is to give top priority to professionals in areas including medicine, engineering and skilled trades. Newcomers are vital to Canada’s prosperity, hence, the immigration process of Canada must be able to address skills shortages by having efficient system, Kenney informed.

A large number of newcomers, majority of who are medical professionals, find themselves stuck in doing meager survival jobs in Canada. It is nothing but underemployment or unemployment. And this is something Canada won’t tolerate any longer.

That’s why Canada needs to reform its immigration process, he quipped.

Changes announced to Canada immigration process—

• Recruitment of foreigners from an international labor market;

• Fast-track approval of applications, in case of acute requirement, as against the traditional first-come, first-served basis currently in place;

• Screening applicants’ education to make sure they meet eligibility critieria;

• More emphasis on language proficiency, profession and younger immigrants;

• Screening of credentials to find whether they have probability of getting licensed or not.