It's an effort to address the provincewide labour shortage which has hampered the economy.
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The government intends to fast-track the cumbersome accreditation process for internationally educated workers including engineers, social workers, early childhood educators, paramedics, teachers and biologists in an effort to address the provincewide labour shortage.
A total of 29 professions are covered in the International Credentials Recognition Act which was introduced in the legislation Monday morning by Minister of State for Workforce Development Andrew Mercier.
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During a press conference at the legislature Monday morning, Premier David Eby said the goal is to fix an “unfair processes” that force newcomers to B.C. to go through “incredibly complex, contradictory, hard-to understand, expensive and repetitive processes that are frustrating and ultimately cause people to give up and work in a field they’re not trained in.”
Considering the skills shortage B.C. is facing, “we can’t afford to leave anyone on the sidelines,” Eby said.
If passed, the legislation will require regulatory bodies to remove some of those barriers, including what Eby called the “Catch-22” of requiring Canadian work experience before being accredited in Canada. The legislation would also remove redundant language testing, set caps for maximum processing times, and require credential assessment information to be available online.
It’s something many have long been calling for following frustration from newcomers to B.C. and British Columbians who study abroad that they often spend years working in a lower paying job as they wait for their credentials to be recognized.
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A new superintendent position will be created to monitor the performance of regulatory bodies and ensure they are following the new rules, which will take effect in the summer of 2024.
Mercier said the proposed changes will require buy-in from the 18 professional regulatory bodies but there will be a government fund to help them meet the standards.
Alice Wong, who completed her masters in social work in Hong Kong, will start a new job Tuesday as a hospital social worker but that’s after more than a year of winding through the arduous accreditation process which she started last August from her home country.
“It was very challenging for me,” said the 40-year-old. “The feeling is, I was fighting in a battle alone, without a lot of support or resources. So it kept me very frustrated in the process.”
Last year, the B.C. NDP announced it would fast-track the credentialing process for internationally trained nurses and doctors, an effort to shore up the health care system as it grapples with a shortage of health care workers.
The 29 occupations are:
registered music teacher
professional engineer
professional teaching certificate holder
land surveyor
early childhood educator
landscape architect
early childhood educator assistant
applied science technologist
conditional teaching certificate holder
certified technician
social worker
veterinarian
registered clinical social worker
lawyer
professional biologist
architect
applied biology technician
notary public
registered biology technologist
emergency medical assistant, including paramedics
professional geoscientist
chartered professional accountant
registered professional forester
associate real estate broker
registered forest technologist
managing real estate broker
professional agrologist
real estate representative
technical agrologist
More to come …
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