10-20-2005, 03:16 PM
Immigrants face job problems
Many countries struggle to get newcomers working, conference told
Jeff HeinrichMontreal Gazette
Thursday, October 20, 2005
TORONTO -- Foreigners without jobs aren't just a Canadian problem.
Wherever they are in the industrialized world, new immigrants -- even those highly educated -- often have trouble finding work, an international conference on immigration heard here Tuesday.
Some languish because their professional or trade credentials aren't accepted. Others get menial jobs or are passed over for a promotion because they're not white. Immigrants governments allow in aren't always the ones that the business market needs or wants, delegates to the 10th annual Metropolis conference heard.
Canada, for example, brings in more Chinese than any other group, whereas employers have a different top priority: Americans and British are the top corporate-sponsored groups.
Sweden goes out of its way to train Somali immigrants as dentists because of a shortage of staff in that domain -- only to see them immigrate again to England to begin their practice.
Employers in Australia have traditionally been suspicious of the language skills of foreign applicants from non-English countries, while in Germany immigrants simply impoverish themselves by sending much of their earnings to relatives back home.
Recognition of foreign credentials is one of the biggest problems here and abroad. Canada and Australia have struggled with professional and trade associations to ease barriers to foreign-trained workers, so far to limited success. "I mean, I can get a brain surgeon quicker in Canada than I can get a plumber," Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell told delegates.
Sponsored by the city of Toronto and the federal government, the week-long conference has attracted 1,000 delegates from about 45 countries. It is the prime event of the year of the Metropolis Project, a network of international researchers and policy makers on migration and ethnic diversity.
Many countries struggle to get newcomers working, conference told
Jeff HeinrichMontreal Gazette
Thursday, October 20, 2005
TORONTO -- Foreigners without jobs aren't just a Canadian problem.
Wherever they are in the industrialized world, new immigrants -- even those highly educated -- often have trouble finding work, an international conference on immigration heard here Tuesday.
Some languish because their professional or trade credentials aren't accepted. Others get menial jobs or are passed over for a promotion because they're not white. Immigrants governments allow in aren't always the ones that the business market needs or wants, delegates to the 10th annual Metropolis conference heard.
Canada, for example, brings in more Chinese than any other group, whereas employers have a different top priority: Americans and British are the top corporate-sponsored groups.
Sweden goes out of its way to train Somali immigrants as dentists because of a shortage of staff in that domain -- only to see them immigrate again to England to begin their practice.
Employers in Australia have traditionally been suspicious of the language skills of foreign applicants from non-English countries, while in Germany immigrants simply impoverish themselves by sending much of their earnings to relatives back home.
Recognition of foreign credentials is one of the biggest problems here and abroad. Canada and Australia have struggled with professional and trade associations to ease barriers to foreign-trained workers, so far to limited success. "I mean, I can get a brain surgeon quicker in Canada than I can get a plumber," Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell told delegates.
Sponsored by the city of Toronto and the federal government, the week-long conference has attracted 1,000 delegates from about 45 countries. It is the prime event of the year of the Metropolis Project, a network of international researchers and policy makers on migration and ethnic diversity.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005