Policy On Removing The 'Canadian Experience' Barrier

Job prospects could improve for foreign-trained engineers seeking
opportunities in Ontario due to a potential policy which would deem Canadian
experience requirements discriminatory.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission issued a new "Policy on removing the
'Canadian experience' barrier" last month which could change the way
employers hire foreign trained engineers in the province. The policy deems
it discriminatory for anyone to apply a strict requirement for "Canadian
experience" when hiring an employee.

The policy applies not just to companies, but also to regulatory bodies such
as professional licensing organizations including the PEO (Professional
Engineers of Ontario). Currently the Professional Engineers of Ontario
requires potential professionals to have four years of experience, one of
which must be obtained in Canada.

This policy will address the long term issue highly-skilled immigrants are
finding as they are unable to gain employment in their field when
immigrating to Canada. Most cannot land a job without Canadian experience
and they can't gain that necessary one year experience without having a job.

Some common screening methods will be considered unacceptable under the
policy  such as asking for local references only, including a requirement
for prior Canadian work experience in the job posting or ad and requiring
applicants to disclose their country of origin or the location of their work
experience on the job application form.

For more information on this Policy please see
http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-removing-%E2%80%9Ccanadian-experience%E2%80%