Provincial Regulatory Bodies -- a brake on the development of Canada

Provincial Regulatory Bodies -- a brake on the development of Canada by Maj (ret’d) CORNELIU, CHISU, CD, PMSC FEC, CET, P.Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East Lead by Prime Minister Mark Carney, the federal government is rapidly taking steps to eliminate the interprovincial trade barriers under its jurisdiction. It has now removed all 53 federal exemptions in the Canada Free Trade Agreement that would inhibit interprovincial trade. The Prime Minister had significantly reduced the number of federal barriers prior to the spring election, but there were still almost two dozen exemptions left in place, primarily for national security reasons. The Liberals’ Bill C-5, aimed at removing the federal barriers to internal trade and labour mobility, was passed nearly unanimously by MPs on June 20, shortly before the House rose for the summer break. The bill moved onto the Senate and was passed late last week, jut before the first of July, as promised. Some provinces have themselves been taking action to remove internal trade barriers, signing agreements and memorandums of understanding to do so. Despite this, several sticking points remain in place and many interprovincial trade barriers continue to exist. These include geographic restrictions on the sale of certain goods, regulatory and policy differences across jurisdictions, and hurdles to labour mobility. The committee on internal trade — made up of provincial ministers and premiers representing all of Canada’s provinces and territories — is set to convene on July 8, at which point it will lay out any progress individual jurisdictions have made to scrap their own exceptions under the trade agreement. One of the main issues is the reluctance of provincial licensing bodies to act in the interest of Canadians rather than their own self-interest. Basically, nothing has changed on the licensing of foreign trained Canadians in the last half century. There are still barriers to getting a licence, only now the process is more sophisticated. The provincial ministers, whose responsibilities form a part of the act of the licensing bodies, have never taken an interest in participating in the licensing process, and exerting their powers to keep the associations faithful to the interests of Canadians. This is the reason that licensing bodies have ignored the respective ministries and have done whatever was convenient for them, in the name of protecting public safety. It is well known that regulating the professions is a provincial responsibility and regulatory bodies approach their role by looking at academic credentials, usually finding fault with foreign credentials, asking candidates to sit additional examinations. Then they look for experience in general and find gaps. The federal government could easily eliminate many of these hurdles by exercising its right to sign international agreements with countries for reciprocal recognition of credentials. The European Union for example, does just that, in order to facilitate the movement of professionals among its 27 member states. So what are we waiting for? Once the recognition of credentials is in place, the regulatory bodies cannot invoke academic credentials issues and must apply their particular examination to all candidates equally, be they Canadian or foreign educated. These actions of the provincial regulatory bodies put a brake on Canadian economic revival. Canada immigration is looking for qualified people to come to Canada and making decisions based on the qualifications of potential immigrants. However, they fail to advise candidates of the provincial regulations of the professions. Therefore, we find physicians, engineers, nurses etc. coming to Canada and finding that they cannot exercise their profession. This is a major loss for both the individual and the country. There are many testimonies confirming just that, and I can personally attest to this with respect to my experience with the Professional Engineers Ontario. For many newcomers, rebuilding a career in Canada often means starting from scratch. Despite years of experience and training, they arrive to find their qualifications questioned and careers derailed by opaque licensing rules and persistent barriers to credential recognition. For decades, Canada has positioned itself as a global magnet for skilled immigrants, promising opportunity to those with education and experience. Over the past 25 years the country has shifted to a model where immigrants are required to study or work here as temporary residents before becoming eligible for permanent status. The aim has been to prioritize those with Canadian education and work experience in a bid to solve the “lack of Canadian experience” for which earlier immigrants were penalized. While some improvements have been made over the years — the federal government in March announced funding of up to $52 million toward foreign credential recognition. The question is who will administer this money? The regulatory bodies; the wolves in sheep’s clothing? This shift has not fixed problems such as the devaluation of foreign credentials, or the persistent wage gaps and underemployment faced by newcomers. The result is a system that still underutilizes skilled immigrants, leaving many in precarious work situations — despite critical labour shortages and an aging population — and it is estimated to cost Canada $50 billion in lost GDP each year. “Are we actually recognizing foreign credentials better? Not really,” said Rupa Banerjee, associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and Canada Research Chair of economic inclusion, employment and entrepreneurship of Canada’s immigrants. Rather than addressing barriers newcomers face; that prevent them from applying their existing qualifications, “we’ve circumvented this issue of foreign credentials as much as possible by really prioritizing people with Canadian education and experience.” There is no “convincing evidence that credential recognition has gotten demonstrably better” said Tricia Williams, director of research at the Future Skills Centre. “For every example of a regulated profession that’s gotten better, there’s others that have stayed the same.” More then a quarter-century ago, the Toronto Star raised many of the same questions, documenting the struggles and aspirations of newcomers like myself. I was interviewed in 1989 while trying to navigate Ontario’s professional engineer licensing system. And don’t forget: to be a Canadian engineer who can practice in every province and territory, you need 13 licences. Is this right? It was difficult to succeed in Canada despite many qualifications, but I enrolled in the Canadian Military Engineers, served the country in overseas missions, and ultimately I was elected as a Member of Parliament. By the way, engineers in the Parliament of Canada are like endangered species. It is time for Canada to seriously re-evaluate the role of self-regulating professional associations; to make them progressive and not a brake on the economic development of Canada. What do you think?