It’s time for organizations to remove this dated requirement
By Margaret Eaton
An accountant from England who was born in India shares his frustrations of searching for a job in Canada. Finally, in desperation, he asked a hiring manager, “Do you have debits in Canada? Do you have credits in Canada?” The hiring manager eventually understood that being an accountant in England is not that different from being an accountant in Canada and offered him a job.
That hiring manager showed good sense, but many employers are still rejecting applicants because they do not have Canadian experience.
The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council was founded in 2003 because there was real concern at that time that immigrant talent in the region (the Greater Toronto Area) was going to waste. The story of the doctor driving a cab was all too familiar, and all too real.
Fifteen years later, the organization wanted to know if things have got better for immigrants. Are the region’s newcomers still struggling in survival jobs when they should be finding meaningful employment where they can use their education, skills and experience? As such, a new report was commissioned and published entitled, “State of Immigrant Inclusion,” which explores key issues in immigration and employment in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) over the past decade and a half.
The report found that the unemployment rate for immigrants with university education is still double the rate for Canadian born university-educated residents. The unemployment rate in 2016 was 12 per cent for immigrants, but only six per cent for people born in Canada. This is better than 2003 when the rate was three times as high. Things are getting better, but slowly.
Why are unemployment rates still higher for immigrant professionals? Research suggests that not having “Canadian experience” – the experience of working in Canada – is still a barrier for newcomers. In today’s increasingly globalized economy, one would think a prospective employee with international experience and knowledge would be considered an asset, but not all employers agree.
In 2013, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) deemed that a “strict requirement” for “Canadian experience is prima facie discrimination and can only be used in very limited circumstances.” Unfortunately, this declaration by OHRC has not been enough to make the issue go away. Even though Canadian employers face skills shortages and are constantly looking for specialized talent in the labour market, there are still some who apparently don’t see the value.
Newcomer professionals bring creativity, international business knowledge and diversity of thought, often leading to innovation that makes businesses globally competitive. In fact, organizations with ethnically diverse executive teams are 33 per cent more likely to lead in their industries in terms of profitability. However, too often newcomer talent is being ignored and untapped.
Statistics report that immigrants with a Canadian degree are doing better than those without: GTA newcomers who gained a bachelor’s degree or higher in Canada are more likely to be working in a job that requires a degree. Newcomer women who gained a degree in a non-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subject outside Canada are the least likely to be working in a job that requires that degree. As a result, immigrants may begin – or are already – paying for degrees and qualifications as a way of getting around the Canadian experience – using Canadian education as a “proxy” for Canadian experience.
Not having this coveted “Canadian experience” can lead to underemployment – immigrants starting their careers here in a less senior position to the one they were in back home. Underemployment at the start of an immigrant’s working life can mean it takes decades for them to catch up with their Canadian-born counterparts. The unfilled potential and the resulting economic impact of this hurts everyone.
As one of the stakeholders surveyed in the report put it when he wrote about the four years it took him to catch up, “That’s four and a half years of paying less in taxes and not being able to contribute to society to my fullest potential.”
Employers would be better served by eliminating parochial requirements like “Canadian experience” from their hiring process, and better recognize the value of international experience and foreign education credentials. They can do this by gaining a wider awareness and understanding of Canadian experience restrictions and change how hiring managers think about credentials – both Canadian and international.
HR professionals can leverage employment service providers or professional immigrant associations that can support them in recruiting and retaining diverse talent. Roughly half of the employers who responded to this survey for the report said that an international credential would not get in the way of them hiring someone, but that is still not enough.
There’s been tremendous progress over the past 15 years when it comes to immigrant employment. However, more needs to be done to see the prosperity for all people – including immigrants – and to keep Canada competitive in the fight for global talent. Let’s make the requirement for “Canadian experience” a thing of the past.
Margaret Eaton is the executive director of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council.