Wasted talent

Talented immigrants with impressive credentials are lured to Canada where their skills are badly
needed. Then bureaucratic nightmares destroy their dreams. Meanwhile, the Canadian economy
suffers from an acute shortage of skilled labour, forcing businesses to hire illegal aliens. Many
communities cannot find doctors. And many of these skilled immigrants end up working in low-paying,dead-end jobs. Or finally find the job of their dreams elsewhere. The cost to our economy is pegged at anywhere from $5 billion to $15 billion a year. This crisis has become one hot political potato in Ottawa and across the country. The heart-wrenching stories are many.

DREAMS SHATTERED

He was one of Iran's top surgeons before he immigrated to Canada, sure he was going to a better life. But it didn't take long for his dreams to go up in smoke. His medical credentials weren't recognized and it would take years to re-educate himself to Canadian standards. So he took what job he couldget. Today, this surgeon works at a Toronto bakery, earning $10-an-hour. Embarrassed, he asked that his name not be used in our story.

This immigrant isn't alone. Two mechanical engineers from Pakistan (one immigrated in 1996, the other in 1999) ended up driving taxi cabs in Toronto -- Canada's top destination for immigrants -- to put food on the table for their families. "We had no idea we'd end up driving cabs and we don't want our families back home to know," one told me, begging I not reveal their names.

Another cab driver, Dr. Khalid Rafiz, isn't as bashful. His cab licence proudly states he owns a PhD.

In Edmonton, an angry immigrant couple, Prem and Nesa Premakumaran, were the first to take their fight to the Supreme Court of Canada, with a lawsuit against Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). The couple's suit, chronicled on www.immigrationwatchcanada.org, alleges they've been exploited and suffered severe financial and emotional damages after CIC told them that Canada desperately needed professionally skilled immigrants. Prem left his job as head of accounting and finance for a private institute in England to come to Canada. His wife, Nesa, was an administrative assistant in the U.K.'s health ministry. They ended up working as a maid and janitor.

Lishan Wu, a mechanical engineer from China who immigrated in 1995, also couldn't find work in her chosen field. Lishan began working as a factory labourer for $9 an hour, but in 2002 when layoffs hit, she had no work.

"I'm finding it very tough financially," said Lishan, who's now taking an accounting course. In 1993 the federal government began addressing a worker shortage caused by our aging populationand low birth rate. It modified the immigrant selection system in order to attract more highly educated and skilled applicants. The result?

Even though 55% of the 2.2 million immigrants who came to Canada between 1990 and 2000 have a university education and 69% aged 25-44 have a degree, 52% work in jobs requiring a high school education.

Also, they're no better off, according to a new Statistics Canada study. It shows nearly one in five or 18.5% of immigrants who arrived between 1992 and 2000 were chronic low-income earners. Part of the problem, says Mike Colle, Ontario's minister of citizenship and immigration, is a federal visa system that is out of touch with the reality of the job market.

In a W-FIVE TV special on immigration, Colle, who passed legislation to make Ontario's system fairer, said: "The immigration system in Canada is broken. It's like inviting someone for dinner to your home and you basically feed them crumbs."

But immigration lawyers point a finger at Ontario's ruling Liberals, saying they're dragging their heels on a November 2005 deal struck with Ottawa's former immigration minister Joe Volpe that would fast track the processing immigrants. In Alberta and B.C., similar nominee programs, which include a guide for employers and lists of high-demand occupations, have been lauded.

COMMON SENSE NEEDED

"This is a good first step, but more needs to be done," said Dan Kelly, v-p for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in Western Canada.

"Quit playing politics, and give us some action. If we drop the ball this time, we'll be in a horrible mess," said Toronto immigration lawyer Richard Boraks.

Mendel Green of Green and Spiegel, Canada's largest immigration law firm, also wants action.

"We need common sense now," said Green, who complains the current system is bogged down with layers of bureaucracy. A recent survey of 2,000 employers, for example, showed 82% couldn't name an organization that evaluated foreign credentials. Green complained professional organizations also put up roadblocks. But these groups, such as the College of Doctors and Physicians, will argue they're protecting the health and safety of Canadians, plus job security for Canadian-born workers.

The Conference Board of Canada predicts there will be one million skilled job vacancies over the next 20 years, while the CFIB warns 70% of 265,000 existing job openings have remained vacant for fourmonths. To get the economy where it needs to go, we need these people out of cabs and in to labs.

Source: LINDA LEATHERDALE Canoe Network