Ok on watching this report it does look damming, but you have to go deeper and perhaps hearing from an immigrant it may help to make things a little clearer, when Mrs tigger and I decide to make our life in Canada 2 years prior to my retirement from that British Army we started the process, we could not have had any better assistence if we had begged for it, the final decision was to be made as long as my wife could follow her career in her field, my career was coming to an end rmember and she had been a wonderful support to me in mine so it was my turn. Dealing with the Canadian officildom we found was a very easy time, yes we had to prove we were financialy capable of looking after ourselves and would not be a burden etc etc to the welfare system etc that was not an issue, next we made a trip and purchased a house my wife also researched the job market in her field and asked if her qualifications aquired in the UK would be acknowledged, as it transpired there was 2 of her qualifications they said would not be accepted, so she asked what she had to do, bottom line she did not want to go back to University for 3 years so she requested if she could "challenge" the exams after a few weeks of uncertainty she was granted permission to do this if she felt she could. At our own expense.
The arrangments were made she duly came to Canada sat the exams and duly "aced" them yes she is the brains of the family following this our imigration was approved and my wife applied for various jobs in her field and finally accepted one of Executive Director of a large agency here in Medicine Hat which she has held now for about 8 years.
I think the report in the W5 presentation does not show the whole picture, there is lots of work in Canada for "blue collar" trades its well known that Canada is going to suffer a huge shortfall in this area if something is not done,in the area of "white collar" professions I guess what I am saying is I agree the system is at fault somewhat in that points can GAIN you immigration because of education and qualifications achieved in your home country, but IT DOES NOT guarentee you a job.
You have to be prepared to do a lot of groundwork yourself and I agree with this. And if you are not prepared to retake exams if required then you need to rethink if you are prepared to move to another country with different laws.
There is a shortage of doctors, accountants engineers etc but not in the numbers that are coming to Canada,plus they are training and educating a lot of Canadians in these fields so each year new Doctors, accountant, engineers etc are leaving university and require positions.
That being said as much as feel sorry for a highly qualified person who ends up cleaning offices, or sweeping the steps of Canada house, why do they stay? is it because there standard of living is higher as a cleaner in Canada than as a Doctor in there native land?
Is it also right to hold the Canadian governmet accountabe for your lack of research before making such a huge decision for you and your family
It is possible to enquire about jobs prior to immiagrating and be pretty sure you will get one, but no matter your qualifications it does not guarentee a position if you just come in "hope" you may have to take what you get.
The arrangments were made she duly came to Canada sat the exams and duly "aced" them yes she is the brains of the family following this our imigration was approved and my wife applied for various jobs in her field and finally accepted one of Executive Director of a large agency here in Medicine Hat which she has held now for about 8 years.
I think the report in the W5 presentation does not show the whole picture, there is lots of work in Canada for "blue collar" trades its well known that Canada is going to suffer a huge shortfall in this area if something is not done,in the area of "white collar" professions I guess what I am saying is I agree the system is at fault somewhat in that points can GAIN you immigration because of education and qualifications achieved in your home country, but IT DOES NOT guarentee you a job.
You have to be prepared to do a lot of groundwork yourself and I agree with this. And if you are not prepared to retake exams if required then you need to rethink if you are prepared to move to another country with different laws.
There is a shortage of doctors, accountants engineers etc but not in the numbers that are coming to Canada,plus they are training and educating a lot of Canadians in these fields so each year new Doctors, accountant, engineers etc are leaving university and require positions.
That being said as much as feel sorry for a highly qualified person who ends up cleaning offices, or sweeping the steps of Canada house, why do they stay? is it because there standard of living is higher as a cleaner in Canada than as a Doctor in there native land?
Is it also right to hold the Canadian governmet accountabe for your lack of research before making such a huge decision for you and your family
It is possible to enquire about jobs prior to immiagrating and be pretty sure you will get one, but no matter your qualifications it does not guarentee a position if you just come in "hope" you may have to take what you get.
I am also an immigrant. I came to Canada with my father about 5 years ago. Before coming to Canada, my father, who is a mechanical engineer, had worked as a senior manager in Telco (part of the TATA group, which recently bought the European steel maker Corus), and General Manager in Skanska (a Swedish construction company executing a highway project in India). The last offer he received before coming to Canada was as a Vice President of a Bangalore based company.
When we applied for immigration, we were told by the Canadian High Commission that Canada's construction industry was growing by leaps and bounds and that they were facing a skilled worker shortage. We were told that since he had worked in the industry for so many years, he would not face much problem in requalification-the only exams he would have to take were Professional Ethics and Law to get the PEng designation. We believed what the Canadian High Commission told us, because, after all, the Canadian government wouldn't lie so blatantly to anyone.
After coming here, he found out that it was a completely different picture. He came in contact with many professionals who had emigrated from India in the past, and were unable to find jobs in their field. He eventually applied to over 500 jobs, but got only 3 interviews.
And that's not just his story. If you go to any manufacturing facility in Toronto and the GTA, you will find that 95% of the workers are immigrants who were working at high positions in their respective countries. I worked during the summer at many such places, and was often embarrassed because the persons working around me were doctors, engineers, and mathematicians who had a long career in their respective countries.
If you live in the GTA or in Vancouver/Montreal, you will find that a large portion of the taxi drivers are usually South Asian. When I came here to Thunder Bay, the taxi driver that drove me to the train station was a Sikh gentleman who wad worked for 18 years as a electrical engineer back home. I worked in a warehouse a few years ago, and one of my colleagues was a 50 year old gentleman, doing the same job as I, but who had worked as a mathematics professor back in Poland.
Sire, you may not have faced discrimination because you are from the UK, and (most likely), white. Most others, especially those from Asia, the middle east, and Eastern Europe, have faced a lot of discrimination here, and hence do not identify with this country.
I myself was asked to write an English test when I applied to university, inspite of me telling them that my entire schooling back home was in a convent school, and that I had consistently obtained high marks in English. They refused to listen. So what happens? After I take my first English course here, I am invited to work as a Tutor in their learning centre. Big surprise there.
Sir, there are many reasons why immigrants stay back here, inspite of these hardships. My father wants to go back to India, but he has stayed back to support me while I finish my engineering degree. Other immigrants have other problems. Many people I know had sold off everything they had back home to come to Canada. It is harder for people from poorer countries to immigrate to Canada because of the high currency conversion rate (1 CAD = 37 Rs). Now, even if they do decide to go back, there is nothing to go back to. Others had taken loans from friends and family to raise the $10,000 required by the Canadian High Commission. They cannot go back empty handed. Still others fear going back just because of the shame and humiliation they would face from their relatives.
It is very easy for people to ask, "If you don't like it here, why don't you go back?" But they do not take all these problems into account.
It is no wonder that many people feel cheated after coming here. The experiences they get here are not consistent with the rosy pictures that the Canadian High commission paints in their home countries.
Hence, most immigrants just use Canada as a stepping stone to the US. The US is seen to not discriminate as much against its minorities as Canada is. Also, the US has a much larger job market. They actually have tons of large homegrown companies, unlike Canada whose economy relies on selling its natural resources to the US. Except that, there isn't much to be appreciated here.
Comment