By admin (May 21, 2024)
Work Experience is No Longer Required for Engineers in Ontario
Work experience is no longer required for engineers in Ontario, it is removed from their application criteria by Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO).
It is the first professional association in the province to remove the Canadian work experience requirement from their application criteria as per the announcement of the Ontario Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, Monte MacNaughton on May 23 in Toronto.
Removing the Canadian work experience will help qualified professionals enter the profession they are trained for as per the statement of the minister. It can also become one of the Top Reasons for Immigrants to Move to Canada.
Candidates applying for a license must be able to demonstrate 48 months of verifiable and acceptable engineering experience following graduation according to the most recent work requirements under PEO. There should be at least 12 months of experience in a Canadian jurisdiction under a licensed professional engineer.
There are 300,000 jobs unfilled across the province as stated by MacNaughton, including thousands in engineering which can cost billions in productivity. This change is followed by Working for Workers Act, 2021 under which regulated professions, such as engineering, must assess competency in a non-discriminatory way.
60% of the license applications received each year are from internationally trained engineers as stated by president of PEO, Roydon Fraser. As per his statement, removing the Canadian work experience requirement will ensure the quick licensing of qualified international engineers.
As of 2019, there were 85,649 licensed engineers in Ontario according to data from PEO. With 24,258 people registered in the profession, it has the second largest number of internationally trained members. It is stated by the province that removing the work experience requirement will surely help qualified professionals to pursue their careers while maintaining Ontario’s exam and licensing requirements.
A newcomer with the technical ability and skills to pass their profession’s licensing exams may still be barred from registering in their profession without Canadian work experience under the current system which means many must gain this experience through any job they can get, even if that work occurs in an unrelated sector such as hospitality or retail. Newcomer can also Immigrate to Canada Without a Job Offer but it is not usually recommended.
Other Registered Professions
Ontario is dealing with acute labour shortages in several sectors, which also happens to be one of the most populous province of Canada. Getting newcomers the accreditation required in regulated professions is one of the largest barriers to filling vacant jobs but the province is trying to fill the vacancies through Provincial Nominee Program.
The steps are being taken by Ontario to make it easier for other newcomers to work in regulated fields. For example, Ontario has passed legislation that will permit nurses from other Canadian jurisdictions to work in the province even without the need of registering with the applicable health regulatory colleges.
Internationally educated nurses are also allowed by this legislation to register in a temporary class and begin working sooner while they work towards full registration. 12,385 new nurses were registered by the College of Nurses, Ontario last year from which 5,124 were trained outside the country.
The college has also collaborated with other colleges and universities to help applicants meet the education requirement. It has also changed its language proficiency policy.Canada Immigration News is the only platform which not only updates you about immigration landscape of Canada but also provides you the latest updates regarding the ever changing rules and regulations of IRCC.