He was a doctor in India, a trucker here and a hero for delivering a baby midflight

For 25 years in his native India, Balvinder Singh Ahuja worked as a pediatrician, treating thousands of children, saving many lives.

For the past six months in Toronto, however, Ahuja has been learning to drive a truck, convinced it was too difficult a process to practise as a foreign-trained doctor in Canada.

Educated Immigrants in Canada stuck in survival jobs

This is quiet a problem so far.   barriers for new immigrants to find a desirable job in their original fields include:

1) culture and language barriers

2) foreign degree recognition

3) the “unique” job seeking method and

4) still existing “discrimination” in Canada.

In response to those barriers, government needs to:

1) develop transitional program to help immigrant adapt into the new environment more quickly;

2) strict immigrant policy to only admit immigrant with a foreign degree recognized in Canada, or set up a place where employers can obtain reliable information on foreign institutions;

3) establish law and related regulation to ban “discrimination” and “empty job advertisement” in the process of recruiting.

Since the initiative for Canada to attract immigrants is to benefit Canadian economy and society, it is critical for government to foster a friendly and welcomed environment, instead of excluding newcomers outside of the main stream society. Without an appropriate application of their talents,  many landed immigrants are can only add burden to the society. The alternative for many immigrants is to look for other opportunities outside of this country, which will definitely lead to the loss of human capital, especially for Canada, a country having a competitive neighbor also looking for qualified labor forces.

This response was written by Xiaoyu Lin 2011 in response to this article below from the Ethiopian Review:

http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/13591

Ottawa rejigging how it selects immigrants

The federal government is planning to further restrict immigration from overseas by favouring temporary migrants who are already studying and working in Canada.

More economic immigrants taking advantage of fast track

Canada is attracting increasing numbers of a new class of economic migrants, one that is already changing the face of the immigrant experience in this country.

The Canadian Experience Class program fast tracks permanent residency applications for skilled foreign workers and graduate students who have spent time in Canada on temporary permits or student visas.

Canada’s broken promise

Parochialism is harming Canadian productivity and innovation — and holding back the potential of well-educated newcomers.

Many employers are stubbornly refusing to hire immigrants who don’t have Canadian experience — and firing them first during economic downturns. The result is that newly arrived immigrants have an unemployment rate that is twice as high as that of the Canadian-born population, in spite of being better educated.

Ottawa urged to help expedite licences for foreign-trained doctors

The federal government should fund temporary work programs that help foreign-trained doctors get their licences faster, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada says.

Andrew Padmos, the college’s chief executive officer, said between 6,000 and 10,000 doctors can’t practise in Canada because there aren’t enough spots in residency programs.

Productivity woes aggravated by failure to hire new immigrants

Companies that fail to capitalize on the skills of new immigrants are aggravating Canada’s productivity woes by erecting employment barriers that hamper innovation and economic growth.

And if foreign-born workers continue to experience the promise of prosperity as hollow, this country risks losing the growing global war for talent as Brand Canada is tarnished abroad.

Dropout rates rise with immigrant child’s age of arrival

Lorna Rivera’s two sons moved to Canada from the Philippines at the same time, in December.

While it took 8-year-old Phillip no time at all to adjust to his Grade 2 class at Saint Elizabeth Catholic School, it has been a different story for 16-year-old Rencis at Bishop Marrocco Catholic Secondary School.

Reshape and rejuvenate workforce through immigration: Kenney

OTTAWA—Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has never suffered from lack of ambition and his latest goal is nothing short of reshaping and rejuvenating the Canadian workforce.

He envisions a nimble, efficient immigration machine that will help solve Canada’s demographic imbalance and boost the country’s competitiveness simultaneously.

How volunteering can help build ‘Canadian experience’

As part of a special partnership with themarknews. com, the Post presents an ongoing series on the importance of social responsibility to Canadian communities. Today, Nick Noorani on the role volunteerism can play with immigrants new to Canada.