Canada is pumping millions of more dollars to make it easier and faster for Indians immigrating to Canada to settle down professionally and personally in their new country.
Under a new plan unveiled, 15 million dollars will be spent to expand the current foreign credentials recognition and labour market programmes offered by the Canadian government in New Delhi, Manila and Guangzhou in China.
Canada’s federal minister for Citizenship and Immigration, Jason Kenney, says the new funding will help more would-be immigrants from these three countries to jump-start their professional lives in their new country by starting the process to have their qualifications recognised even before they leave their home countries.
The money will go to the Canadian Immigration Integration Project (CIIP), which is run by the Association of Canadian Community Colleagues (ACCC). The Integration Project began its services on a pilot basis in 2007, and so far more than 7,000 have gone through its pilot programmes.
According to Canadian officials, the three offices, along with a soon-to-be opened office in London to offer services to Nordic and Arab countries, will offer services to more than 70% of the immigrants selected under Canada’s federally run skilled workers immigration programme. Furthermore, it will also offer services to more than 40 percent of immigrants selected under the country’s provincial nominees programme.
The free sessions offered by the Project include labour market information, individual advice and planning and the referral to the various services available at the federal and provincial levels. There will also be on-line tools for a number of issues, including help immigrants begin their licensure process even before they arrive.
Furthermore, as not everyone would be able to access the services in person, the ministry has developed an online version, and this can be accessed at www.credentials.gc.ca.
The new funding is an acknowledgement that the Canadian government has taken seriously the concerns raised by skilled immigrants and settlement groups who say one of their biggest challenges is to have foreign credentials recognised.
More Money, New Deals To Help Immigrants
Canadian government has already allocated 50 million dollars over a two-year programme to develop a common national approach towards recognition of foreign credentials.
There has also been a Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications deal between the federal provincial and territorial governments to facilitate faster recognition of foreign credentials.
Under the programme, a skilled immigrant will know within a year of applying whether or not his or her credentials be recognised here, and to what level.
