May 2025

Written by our law student, Songyun Lu, who is spending her summer academic break learning to love immigration law as much as I do! Songyun immigrated to Canada as a tween, and shares her personal experiences in the newsletters she writes.

 

From my personal experience, I have seen disproportionately more immigrants who found jobs outside of their profession than those who found jobs in their profession after immigrating to Canada. I have many friends whose parents had to either restart their professional education in Canada or give up on their profession completely, due to the lengthy and costly process of re-education or obtaining licensing in Canada. This occupational mismatch is a commonly accepted and often anticipated reality amongst immigrants.

 

It makes no difference if one’s immigration is approved based on skills and education to their employability in Canada. The issue lies in the complicated and often unfair licensing process in Canada that bars them from finding a job in their profession. A friend told me that her father was a dental surgeon in Iran, but when he immigrated to Canada, he was unsuccessful in the certification process. The certification process for foreign-trained dentists is costly and requires multiple examinations that take years to complete. An article from 2023 reports the frustration with the registration backlog for foreign-trained dentists looking to be certified in Canada. In addition, there are issues such as a lack of examination seats, unfair assessment methods, a lack of transparency and an unwillingness of the dental board to communicate with the candidates.

 

Similar frustration can be found in nursing. In this CBC article, a nurse (non-Ontario registered), Razan Suliman, discusses the painful wait, knowing Ontario patients are in need of medical providers. The same article states that a 2020 report found a backlog of 14,633 international nurses were pursuing a licence through the Ontario College of Nurses. Only approximately 2,000 nurses became fully registered members that year. The queue is now estimated to be near 26,000. On the other hand, registered nurses can also get stuck in Immigration limbo, awaiting Permanent Resident status.

 

Even with the implementation of Practice-Ready Assessment programs, there are still systematic barriers faced by foreign-trained doctors. According to RBC statistics, immigrants with a medical degree are six times more likely to work in jobs that do not use their training. An article published by the Canadian Medical Association summarizes some of the barriers existing for foreign-trained doctors. Foreign-trained doctors must have a medical degree from an accredited school in the World Directory of Medical Schools to practice in Canada. Unless you are already licensed to practice family medicine in Australia, Ireland, the UK and the US, you must undergo examinations to be certified. Certain examinations only run a few times a year, making the certification lengthy and costly, especially if you need to retake the exam. Many foreign-trained doctors spend years and thousands of dollars to even begin securing a residency spot. Many provinces also require foreign-trained doctors to sign a “return of service” contract, which obligates them to work in under-serviced communities for several years after their residencies, limiting their ability to choose where they practice at the start of their careers—an obligation not placed on Canadian medical graduates. Considering many immigrant doctors with families, this limitation could have significant implications for their spouses' and children’s lives. Thus, between the cost and the time spent waiting for the certification, many foreign-trained doctors find work in other fields instead.

 

As we step into the second half of 2025 with the new liberal government, we may anticipate hopeful changes in some of these barriers for skilled immigrants. As part of his plan for Canada Immigration, Mark Carney promises to partner with provinces to streamline and speed up foreign credential recognition, particularly in healthcare and skilled trades. It would be interesting to see how this policy will be practically implemented, and whether it will ease the burden of many skilled Canadians currently facing barriers due to their foreign-trained background.