Canada
Why immigrants have a hard time getting a job in Canada?
Why is it that Canada is a popular destination for immigrants and yet it is difficult for immigrants to get a decent job?
I have met so many people over the course of 3 years and everyone has a similar story. Getting a job in Canada is hard. Here I list out some issues and experiences I have heard and experienced as an immigrant.
The reality is that, due to Canada’s aging population, the Canadian government wants young people to migrate to here. However, the employers or the companies have a different requirement. Canada needs money and wants young hard working people to sustain their economy. Each individual brings over at least 10K Canadian dollars when they immigrate to Canada. Settling into the country involves multiple expenses such as renting a house, buying winter clothes, food and transportation expense etc. So the immigrant starts spending money the day they land in Canada. It takes 3 to 6 months to understand the country, geography and make connections and friends.
The employers in Canada however, are reluctant to hire new immigrants. They give excuses such as you don’t have “Canadian experience”, “you don’t have local education”, “you don’t have professional license” etc.
Canadian experience is a ‘chicken and egg’ problem. Unless someone gives you a job, you can’t have Canadian experience; and unless you have Canadian experience, no one is ready to offer you a job. This scenario puts the immigrants in a limbo; they become disheartened, demotivated, frustrated and desperate to get a job as savings start depleting rapidly with the high cost of living in all major cities in Canada.
Aware of the problems faced my immigrants, there are many employers who take undue advantage of the hard working sincere immigrants. They are offered a job with just minimum wage salary. They are made to work extra hours without being compensated for it under the pretext saying “You are lucky we have hired you, the job market for newcomers is not good”. The helpless immigrants keep working hours, months and years with no work life balance, no time for family, and ultimately not enough money to survive the high cost of living in Canada.
The story of licenses
Most of the professions in Canada requires some or the other kind of license. You would think only professions like Doctors, Engineers might require a license, but you’re greatly mistaken. Below is a list of some of the professions I came across which require a license. Obtaining the license is a lengthy, expensive and time consuming process which requires the person to sometimes learn and give multiple exams, work with a low salary under a licensed professional and provide a valid document to show the working hours, appear before a jury to prove your efforts before you are given a license to work in the particular profession.
Engineering, Architecture, Interior Design, Lawyer, Doctors, Insurance Advisors, Real Estate Agent, Fishing, Chef (if you want to sell food even home based business needs a license), Operating day care center for children, teaching children, dog walking, fishing and the list goes on and on and on. Canada needs to revisit its license requirements and see if it is really necessary to have such a long time consuming process. Can we not make it more user friendly and let people follow their passion and their careers? We will benefit from the diverse talent and the values each person brings from their past experiences only if we allow them to work in their own fields.
You need a ‘Reference’ to land a job
I have seen so many people getting jobs because they knew ‘someone’ working in the company. The person who got the job is not necessarily qualified or has the right skills for the job, but that ‘person’ was selected because he was referred to the job by an ‘existing employee’. Now the problem here is, immigrants do not necessarily know many people when they land in Canada. They move here on PR visa, based on their qualifications and experience working in the relevant field in their home country. They don’t have any friends or family here, let alone knowing someone in their own field of profession. An immigrant spends almost 6 months trying to settle down in the new country and making friends. Friendships are built not with the purpose of getting a job, but to have a social circle and someone to trust. However, as one starts navigating the job market, they realize that we need to build a network to get a job. Then starts the struggle for networking. Networking is not easy, convincing random people about your skills and qualifications is easier said than done. From the culture I come from, getting a job through reference is frowned upon. It is considered unfair and cheating. We are expected to get a job based on our qualifications and skills. However I’m learning new things everyday so networking is one of them.
Highly Qualified Skilled Immigrants are Jobless
Diversity is being invited to the party, Inclusion is being asked to dance — Verna Myers, Diversity & Inclusion expert
When immigrants apply for visa whether it is PR, work permit or skilled trades the immigrants are qualified working professionals in their home countries, they are made to provide extensive paper work which showcases their education qualifications, and relevant work experience aligned to their education. Immigrants also need a high score to prove their English language proficiency by giving IELTS and other similar exams. The entire process of immigration lasts anywhere from 1 year to 2.5 years. After this process when the person lands into the country with hopes, goals and dreams the Canadian job market is ready to show its true colors and crash the dreams of these immigrants.
Why are we forcing these qualified people to undergo a bureaucratic licensing system? I feel its a way to make money and delay the earning possibility of the immigrant so that he stays in the country longer, with hopes of getting the desired job and salary. The more he stays the more money he invests into the economy.
Currently Canada is facing extreme shortage of doctors. Do you know the reason? It’s the same. They make doctors undergo over 5 years of education and licensing before they could start practicing as a doctor. I know doctors who have 20+ years of experience working in their home country, they returned back or decided to change their careers and do some other random job. I met a dentist who was trying to change field and get into IT because he couldn’t afford to study for 5 years as he had to support his family. Also, it was insulting to discard his home experience and study the same thing again. I think it is insane to make doctors study again. Canada’s population is less than most of the countries. If a doctor is coming from India or any Asian country, he has handled a lot more patients than any Canadian doctor simply because of probability due to large population. An immigrant doctor mostly has more experience than any Canadian doctor. Do a simple math comparison of population and you will know what I’m talking about. In a recent news interview, a senior doctor in Canada was urging government to bring doctors and nurses from other countries and he was appealing to the organizations and authorities to allow them to practice as full-time doctors as soon as possible, as the current shortage or doctors will collapse the medical system.
Qualified individuals will pick up the necessary skills and understand the ‘local culture’ on the job. You need to trust a person based on his past qualifications and experience history. A person who has been consistent in their achievements, be it academic or in the career, has the necessary skills of being punctual, hard working, sincere and is good at communication skills too.
Canadian employers have to understand that the people migrating to Canada have courage, determination and skillset which made them land in Canada in the first place. If you are not able to see the worth of the person the problem lies with the company, the hiring managers or the hiring process.
So called “Canadian Experience”
People are immigrating to other countries like US, Australia, New Zealand, UK and other European countries too. I have friends working in all these countries. The excuse of not having “Canadian Experience” is very strange. I have never heard of anything like “US experience” or “UK Experience”. Other countries look at a candidate’s profile their education and past experience and offer a job based on the skills. In Canada however, employers are rejecting people left, right and center under the excuse of not having “Canadian Experience” or sometimes going to the details of the experience and asking for the exact same experience. It is unfair and people can sense the unspoken bias and racism happening here.
One of my acquaintance has moved to Canada about a year ago. She is a mother of two kids and the family was having a hard time managing the expenses as new immigrants. So, she decided to do some part time job to make money to cover some of the living expenses. She saw a restaurant which had a vacancy for the job of ‘washing dishes’. She knew it was not the ideal job given her qualifications, but decided to enquire about it anyways. You won’t believe what happened. The manager asked her “Do you have Canadian Experience?” She asked him whether they wash dishes any differently in Canada than rest of the countries? She walked out of that place angry and frustrated.
I know many immigrants who have left the country after trying their best to find a well paying deserving job in their field. The story about the unfair practices of Canadian employers are reaching outside the country. People are not naïve and stupid. A day will come when Canada will have to change its hiring process or else it won’t be able to sustain on its current attitude towards immigrant talent.
Strength lies in differences, not in similarities — Stephen R Covey.
I sincerely feel that Canadian employers need to change their attitude towards new immigrants if they want to have a sustainable Canadian economy. Jobs in Canada are seriously understaffed, people are underpaid and overworked. If this bias and discrimination continues, it will definitely affect Canada in the long run.
I believe that every person should get a chance to prove his/her skills and talent. Canada will benefit from the diversity of employees as people coming from different cultures and backgrounds bring in unique perspectives and skillset. If Canadian employers can be open-minded for once and hire diverse people, they will see the benefits of having fresh talent. I just want the employers to have some empathy for immigrants.
I have just one message for all the job seekers out there. Keep your head help up high. You are brave to have moved to a foreign country living behind your homeland, your family and most probably a secure life. Today or tomorrow you will get the job you deserve. It’s just a matter of meeting the right people at right time.
Copyright © 2022, Tanmaya Rao. All rights are reserved.
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