Section 2
Prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) of foreign
credentials
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2.1 Incidence of immigrants requesting PLAR within two years of immigrating to Canada
2.2 Characteristics of immigrants requesting PLAR at a postsecondary institution
There are over 200,000 immigrants arriving in Canada each year. Immigration is an increasingly important component of population growth in Canada. According to a report from Statistics Canada, immigrants were responsible for more than two-thirds (69%) of the population growth that occurred between 2001 and 2006 (Statistics Canada 2007). Because most immigrants enter Canada through the skilled worker immigration system2, they make an enormous contribution to the pool of people in Canada with postsecondary qualifications (Canadian Labour and Business Centre 2004). The pool of highly educated and skilled workers in Canada is recognized as being vitally important to the country's ability to compete in the knowledge economy.
Upon their arrival however, internationally-educated professionals face an adjustment process both in terms of integrating into society at large and finding adequate work. New immigrants tend to be unfamiliar with the structure of local and national labour markets, they may not have social networks that could support their job search, they often lack language fluency, and they do not possess Canadian work experience.
Professionals often encounter a further obstacle to finding appropriate work in their field of expertise: If they wish to be employed in regulated occupations—such as those in health—they must be certified and / or licensed through professional associations, which generally operate under government statutes.
The purpose of accreditation is to assure public health and safety. Whereas professionals trained in Canada have followed recognized programs of study, have validated work experience and a high command of the language of employment, immigrant professionals may face difficulties in having their degrees, work experience and / or language proficiency recognized. The collision of national immigration policies with professional accreditation thus creates a paradox: while highly educated immigrants are recruited on the bases of their potential professional contributions to Canadian society, the re-accreditation requirements they must meet often act as barriers to the full utilization of their skills (Boyd and Schellenberg 2007).
In order to support the creation of effective strategies for workplace integration, it is important to better understand how immigrants move into the Canadian workforce and especially how and if their previous credentials, skill and competencies are recognized. There is also a growing awareness of the need to look at both formal credentials and informal knowledge and skills to determine the competencies of immigrants to Canada (Canadian Association of Prior Learning Assessment 2006).
Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) is often used by postsecondary institutions, regulatory bodies, professional associations and employers to assess previously acquired formal education and work experience of internationally-trained (and Canadian-trained3) individuals. PLAR is a process that may facilitate immigrants' integration into the workforce through the recognition of their credentials acquired abroad and / or by identifying gaps in their learning or training in relation to Canadian standards for which steps can be taken to fill these gaps.
The Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) conducted by Statistics Canada gathers some information on immigrants requesting PLAR within the first two years of their arrival to Canada (refer to Appendix 1 for a general overview of this survey). Using information from LSIC, this section examines how many immigrants with foreign credentials had applied for PLAR in the first two years after their arrival in Canada with the different entities that offer this service. In accordance with the mandate of HHRE—to examine and quantify the role of the education system in the supply of health human resources—this section then focuses solely on the characteristics of immigrants requesting PLAR with postsecondary institutions in Canada and the outcomes of these assessments. Given that most immigrants are establishing themselves in large metropolitan areas such as Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Calgary and Vancouver, there is little information available by province and territory other than for Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
2.1 Incidence of immigrants requesting PLAR within two years of immigrating to Canada
Among immigrants who came to Canada in 2000, about one in ten intended to work in a health occupation including 2% who wanted to work as physicians
Of the approximately 164,000 immigrants aged 15 and over who arrived in Canada from abroad between October 2000 and September 2001, 161,000 were still living in Canada in 2003, two years after their arrival (Statistics Canada 2006). Of those, about 79,200 (or 49%) knew what kind of job they wanted when they decided to immigrate to Canada (Table 2.1.1).
Of the 79,200 immigrants who knew what kind of job they wanted when they decided to immigrate to Canada, 6,800 or about one in ten (9%) wanted to work in a health occupation (Table 2.1.1). This reflects the intentions of those immigrants residing in Ontario (8%) and British Columbia (9%) whereas 6% of immigrants in Quebec and 14% in Alberta were targeting health occupations when they decided to immigrate to Canada. There was not enough sample to provide reliable data for each of the other provinces (either individually or grouped together) with respect to the proportion of immigrants with intentions to work in a health occupation when they decided to immigrate to Canada (Tables 2.1.2 to 2.1.6).
Looking at the specific health occupations that immigrants were targeting when they decided to come to Canada, 4% of all immigrants who knew what job they wanted when they decided to immigrate to Canada targeted professional occupations in health (this category includes occupations such as physicians, dentists, diagnosing and treating professionals, pharmacists, and therapy and assessment professionals), including 2% who wanted to become physicians. Another 2% of immigrants who knew what job they wanted when they decided to immigrate to Canada wanted a position of registered nurse (Table 2.1.1). For the most part, sample size prevents such a detailed breakdown by province.
Immigrants targeting health occupations when they decided to immigrate to Canada were more likely than their counterparts targeting other types of occupations to request PLAR
Within two years of their arrival, three-quarters (77%) of immigrants who targeted health occupations when they decided to immigrate to Canada requested an assessment of their credentials with one group or another offering these services (i.e., postsecondary institutions in Canada, work-related or professional associations in Canada, employers in Canada, and other institutions both in and outside of Canada). This compares to 61% of immigrants who were seeking a job outside of health and the selected health-related fields. The most popular entities with which immigrants who sought a health occupation had their credentials checked were work-related or professional associations in Canada (40% of immigrants targeting health occupations), and postsecondary educational institutions in Canada (33%), with another 31% having had their credentials checked with other organizations both in and outside of Canada. These other organizations include immigration officers in Canada, work-related and professional association outside of Canada, Visa officers, educational institutions outside Canada, Federal / provincial government departments or services, as well as other entities. Only 18% of immigrants who were targeting health occupations when they decided to immigrate to Canada had their credentials checked with an employer in Canada (Table 2.2.1).
The proportion of immigrants who requested PLAR with any group offering this service within their first two years in Canada was 83% among those who targeted a professional occupation in health. Among physicians in particular, this proportion was similar 78% (Table 2.2.1 and Chart 2.1).
Within the first two years of arrival, the proportion of immigrants targeting a health occupation in general who requested to have their credentials checked with any institution was around three-quarters in Ontario (74%) and British Columbia (72%) and around 80% in Quebec (81%) and Alberta (83%). In all the other provinces taken together, 94% of immigrants targeting a health occupation requested PLAR within this time frame. In all provinces except Quebec, a higher proportion of immigrants targeting health occupations requested PLAR than did their counterparts targeting occupations outside of the health and selected health-related fields. In Quebec, there was no statistically significant difference between these two groups. The proportion of immigrants targeting occupations other than in health and the selected health-related fields who requested PLAR ranged from 52% in British Columbia to 75% in Quebec (Tables 2.2.2 to 2.2.6 and Chart 2.1).
Given the sample size, it is not possible to examine the relative popularity of the different organizations offering PLAR among immigrants targeting health occupations in each of the provinces. However, one observation that stands out is the high percentage of immigrants targeting a health occupation in Quebec who sought PLAR from other institutions (almost two-thirds) (Table 2.2.2). Given that Quebec is responsible for managing its own immigration system, this high proportion may be reflecting credential assessment services provided by the provincial government and its agencies.
2.2 Characteristics of immigrants requesting PLAR at a postsecondary institution
While the above examined how many immigrants with foreign credentials had applied for PLAR in the first two years after their arrival in Canada with the different entities that offer this service, the following analysis focuses on the characteristics of immigrants requesting PLAR with postsecondary institutions in Canada and the outcomes of these assessments.
Three in four immigrants requesting PLAR with a postsecondary institution in the two years following their arrival in Canada and seeking a health occupation were women
The majority of immigrants requesting PLAR at a Canadian postsecondary institution within two years of their arrival in Canada were men (58%). This situation is reversed among immigrants seeking a health occupation as almost three-quarters (72%) requesting PLAR with a postsecondary institution were women (Table 2.3.1). This is not surprising given that almost three-quarters of immigrants wanting to work in health were also women (Allen et. al. 2007).
Eight in ten immigrants requesting PLAR with a postsecondary institution in the two years following their arrival and seeking a health occupation were in the prime working age group of 25 to 44 year olds
Two-thirds of the total pool of immigrants who arrived in Canada between October 2000 and September 2001 were aged between 25 and 44. About nine in ten immigrants in the skilled worker category were in that same age group (Statistics Canada 2005). Therefore, it is not surprising that 84% of the immigrants who knew what occupation they were looking for before they came to Canada and who requested PLAR at a Canadian postsecondary institution were also between the ages of 25 and 44. The proportion is similar for immigrants who were seeking a health occupation and requested PLAR with a postsecondary institution (85%) (Table 2.3.1). The proportion of 25- to 44-year-olds among those immigrants who were seeking a health occupation and requested PLAR at a postsecondary institution did not vary significantly across the provinces, from 79% in Alberta to 89% in Quebec (data is suppressed for British Columbia and all other provinces) (Tables 2.3.2 to 2.3.6).
Two-thirds (62%) of immigrants wishing to work in a health occupation and who applied for credential recognition with a postsecondary institution in Canada came from Asia (includes West, South and East / Southeast Asian origins). Asians made up a similar proportion (66%) of immigrants who were seeking occupations outside of the health and selected health-related fields who had applied for PLAR at a postsecondary institution (Table 2.3.1).
Among the immigrants living in Ontario and Alberta —the two provinces for which reliable data are available—who wanted an occupation in health and who had applied for credential recognition with a postsecondary institution, 66% in both provinces came from Asia. In comparison, Asians accounted for 74% (Ontario) and 61% (Alberta) of immigrants requesting PLAR with these institutions who wanted occupations outside of health and the selected health-related fields (Tables 2.3.3 and 2.3.4).
The high proportion of Asians among immigrants wanting a health occupation who applied for PLAR at a postsecondary institution is reflected in the proportion of immigrants requesting PLAR with these institutions who are members of visible minorities. In fact, three-quarters of the immigrants wishing to work in a health occupation and who requested PLAR at a postsecondary institution are members of a visible minority, about the same proportion (80%) as for immigrants wanting occupations outside of health and health-related fields and requesting PLAR. Due to the sample size for LSIC, reliable data is not available on the proportion of members of visible minorities among those targeting health occupations who had requested PLAR for the provinces except for Ontario.
About four out of five of immigrants requesting PLAR with a postsecondary institution and seeking a health occupation have a university degree
Given that most immigrants in Canada come through the skilled worker category, it is not surprising that more than half (55%) of immigrants overall come to Canada with a university degree, while 19% had some postsecondary or trade diploma or certificate (including completed college) (Statistics Canada 2005).
A large majority of immigrants requesting PLAR and seeking a health occupation when immigrating to Canada have a university degree (79%). A similar proportion of immigrants requesting PLAR and seeking an occupation outside of health or health-related fields (86%) have a university degree (Table 2.3.1). In Ontario 77% of immigrants requesting PLAR and seeking a health occupation hold a university degree as do 85% in Alberta (Tables 2.3.3 and 2.3.4).
Seven in ten immigrants seeking a health occupation obtained full or partial recognition of their credentials from a postsecondary institution within two years of immigrating
Not all immigrants requesting credential assessment at a postsecondary institution obtain a full recognition of their credentials. Seven in ten immigrants seeking a health occupation had obtained full (36%) or partial (34%) recognition of their foreign credentials within two years of their arrival in Canada. The remainder was either refused recognition, was still in the process of finding out or did not know. This figure is lower than for immigrants who requested PLAR and wanted a job outside of health and health-related fields where 57% obtained a full recognition of their credentials and 24% a partial recognition (Table 2.4.1 and Chart 2.2). For the most part, the sample size does not permit this kind of analysis by province.
2.3 Reasons why immigrants did not request PLAR at a postsecondary institution within two years of immigrating to Canada
A quarter of immigrants seeking a health occupation said that lack of information on the PLAR process was the main reason for not having their credentials checked
Immigrants may decide not to have their credentials checked with a postsecondary institution for different reasons. The most often stated reasons by immigrants seeking a health occupation was that they did not know where to go or how to get their credentials checked (26%), they knew they would not be accepted (22%) or they did not go through this process because of time constraints (18%). These reasons were also the most common for all immigrants who did not request PLAR (Table 2.5.1). The sample size does not support this kind of analysis at the provincial level.
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