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Time to Act on Solutions For Immigrant Jobs,

Written by: Arupa Tesolin

Article Overview: The value of skilled immigrants in Canada contributes to our economic prosperity. But in order for them to participate fully several barriers need to be removed at the hiring end. Here are some ways to do it.

Time to Act on Solutions For Immigrant Jobs,

By Arupa L. Tesolin, copyright May 24, 2004,

The plight of Canadian immigrants who can’t find suitable work with proper pay is becoming publicly acknowledged. Their reality is stark. Many immigrants to Canada arrive here to find themselves marginalized; unable to find the skilled positions they were invited to fill. Solutions exist but they require rigorous involvement from all parties.

Most Canadians, like myself, have an immigrant story in their family or among their relatives. However my point of view is also that of an industry insider.

Like you I want to live in a prosperous country. This means every member of our society ought to be able to have the money (and time) for homes, cars, and leisure. When I learn of a doctor or engineer who can’t practice here or a former senior executive driving a taxi after emigrating to Canada, it doesn’t make me a proud Canadian. Rather, it deprives our society of able talent and diminishes opportunities for educated professionals to give their best.

Today’s immigrants aren’t the same as yesterday’s, who arrived penniless, young and unskilled with dreams of a better life. They are educated, they’ve achieved success back home, and arrived under immigration criteria designed to address our emerging shortages of skilled workers. They are not refugees, supported by welfare and OHIP, fleeing dictatorships or war regimes. They are working professionals like many Canadians..

Operating funds given to social agencies that aid immigrants, create employment first for their organization, not necessarily their clients. Canadians fill the first employment positions created by government solutions for fast-tracking professional credentials. This won’t alleviate the urgent realities of immigrants looking for jobs, renting apartments and risking eviction because their money has run out, or working for a $7 minimum wage in a janitorial job because that’s all they could get.

Companies, recruiters and HR. Departments can:
Hire immigrants as a priority and implement affirmative action policies for immigrants
Remove hiring barriers that screen out immigrants needlessly or could be discriminatory like requiring Canadian experience and education for regular non-professionally accredited jobs.
Focus on needed skills and whether your candidate can do them. With today’s turnover and loyalty, hiring immigrants makes sense.
Remove offensive notices about Canadian work papers. Say it without stigmatizing.
Manage the hiring process for fairness. Many people involved may not have strong Human Resources backgrounds or Human Rights knowledge.
Pay people adequately. Can your workforce afford to live on what you give them? Recognize how a diverse workforce, and one that includes immigrants, can improve productivity and innovation.
During job interviews try to accomodate different presentation styles. Bragging about accomplishments could be considered rude in some cultures.

Immigrants can:
Avoid complaining and commiserating with other immigrants about all the discrimination you face. It’s not productive for your success. Know the other issues. Realize you’ve arrived after a tough job market in a soft economy and are competing with experienced skilled Canadians who’ve been down-sized, younger Canadians looking for their first job (with difficulty too) and others who are dissatisfied with their job.

Prevent discrimination through knowledge. To be boldly direct, attach this Notice to your application.

“The Canadian Human Rights Code protects all people from discrimination on the basis of “ethnic origin” and “place of origin”. If the job you are recruiting for routinely asks immigrants whether they have Canadian experience when that particular kind of job is done fairly similarly in other areas of the world, this could be discriminatory. Similarly if you don’t recognize academic credentials of a candidate because they obtained their education outside of Canada and this education is not a required, tested and validated professional credential or license requirement, you may also be practicing discrimination.”

If you’ve suffered discrimination file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
Precedent setting cases that test the Charter of Rights follow through to the Supreme Court level.

Professionally re-write your resume to suit the Canadian market that details and sells your experience in a relevant context. Customize your cover letter for the job you are applying. Send it to the company directly rather than through a job board. Though 20% of applicants inflate their qualifications, be honest, getting caught in a lie could ruin your career after you’re hired. Get interview coaching so you are well prepared to handle Canadian style interviews with confidence.
Don’t succumb to despair. Keep your hopes and dreams alive. Have a vision for the future you see yourself living. The workforce is going to change a lot over the next 6 years.
Change your first name (if willing) to a one syllable name that’s easy to pronounce. (advice from a now successful immigrant).
Make Canadian friends outside your ethnic community. Most will care enough to help if they know you. Then, they can refer you to positions and network for you.
Don’t work for an employer that doesn’t comply with labour laws: namely wage, vacation, holiday, overtime pay or health and safety. These laws were made as a result of the brave people who fought for them in the labour movement. Learn about them. Help is via a phone call or complaint filed with the Provincial Ministry of Labour. If government responds slowly, find an employment lawyer to file charges in court. Community legal clinics can provide resources.

Employers who don’t pay immigrants properly could also be practicing discrimination, which provides other legal remedies to settle complaints through provincial human rights commissions.

The worst offenders can often be members of your own ethnic community who see an advantage in preying on your circumstance. Stop this with open conversation and support from temples, mosques, churches, community and cultural organizations. Don’t do business with companies that do this to your neighbours, friends and relatives. You can organize peaceful demonstrations, with picketing, posters and information to protest as allowed by Canadian law.

Know the power of the internet. Web-sites like internalmemos.com and vault.com give workers powerful communication tools and organizing capabilities in an age of emerging corporate transparency.

University education does not guarantee good job performance. Employers allocate points to candidates who have one because it has become a norm. In truth, aside from professional designations and highly skilled scientific jobs, most jobs can be done well without it.

The biggest problem with employees today is that their bodies are “present” on the job but their minds are not. Jobs aren’t engaging their highly trained mind or don’t fulfill them. Successful job performance still depends mostly on attitude, the ability to learn, and good management. Most immigrants have these along with wisdom and character developed through their experience.

Work-related skills training, if required can be obtained through Intuita’s (www.intuita.com) affordable on-line tutorials for employee/management development. These are for anyone, not just immigrants.

Governments can: create searchable web lists of employers with unsettled pay claims, legal and employment resources, contract young lawyers/interns to settle claims quickly, publish articles in ethnic/community newspapers advising on immigrant rights.

Lawyers and community legal clinics can provide services specifically targeted at immigrant employment issues, provide resources to effectively support discrimination claims including Charter tests, and filing employment claims in court.

There has been enough consciousness raising about immigrant jobs. Now we need to act.
Do your part. Give a copy of this article to every immigrant you know and bring it to the attention of every person you know who has a hand in the hiring process. And maybe it wouldn’t hurt to hold the federal government accountable for making false promises and raising expectations for immigrants until the situation is reversed.

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