|
| |
Web Changes
This is where we'll announce the most recent
additions to our web site. If you've visited us before and want to know what's
changed, take a look here first
Ottawa
to help foreign doctors and nurses into the workforce
Plan
expected to ease medical skills shortages
|
|
|
Gillian Shaw and Michael McCullough
|
|
Vancouver
Sun
|
Tuesday,
April 26, 2005
The federal government
announced an initiative for foreign-trained workers Monday, kickstarting it with
a $75-million injection to get more internationally trained doctors and other
medical workers into Canada's health care system.
The $75 million, to be
shared among the provinces over the next five years, is part of $319 million in
new and previously announced programs outlined at news conferences in Toronto
and Vancouver.
All the programs are aimed
at overcoming obstacles facing foreign-trained workers and easing skills
shortages across Canada.
Health Minister Ujjal
Dosanjh told the Vancouver news conference the initiative would add an estimated
1,000 doctors, 800 nurses and 500 other health professionals to Canada's health
care system.
Initiative coordinator
Hedy Fry, MP for Vancouver Centre, said many immigrants are underemployed or
unemployed and not filling jobs they were trained for.
"How do we take
advantage of this brain gain?" she asked. "Internationally trained
workers are a great piece of our economic blueprint and our global
competitiveness."
Among those with high
hopes for the initiative is German-trained cardiac surgeon Ladislaus Ressler,
45, who is optimistic the federal money will expedite a three-month assessment
at one of B.C.'s four cardiac care units he has been waiting to do for 18
months.
"I'm more than happy
about it," said Ressler, who is the subject of a 2,500-name petition to the
provincial government to fund the assessment.
The biggest obstacle is
the $30,000 cost, Ressler said, and maybe some of the new federal money can go
towards it.
Also positive is
33-year-old Alfredo Tura, an Italian doctor who is part of a pilot project to
put 10 foreign-trained doctors through a three-month program called Orientation
to Western Medicine at St. Paul's Hospital. He is hoping for a residency
position in the next few months.
Unable to practise, Tura
spent 10 years working in his family's import-export business in Victoria and
working as an emergency and rural nurse.
But the federal initiative
is a good gesture, he said.
"Any money and any
support is always good."
But Jessa Merilos, who
practised nursing for nine years in the Philippines and Saudi Arabia before
coming to B.C. two years ago, is less hopeful.
Merilos, 39, of New
Westminster, doesn't see how the new money can help her overcome language and
other exams requiring between $6,000 and $7,000 in schooling just so she can
work as a registered nurse again.
Here, she can't even get a
job in a nursing home.
"They're all
requiring me to study for my certificate," she said.
After working as a
dishwasher in a restaurant and at a factory where she sustained an injury, she
is now working just one day a week as a babysitter.
"It's so
degrading," she said in an interview Monday. "Our education is
underestimated by this government."
Monday's announcement
provided details of money that foreign workers' advocates knew was coming, said
Patrick Coady, coordinator of the B.C. Internationally Trained Professionals
Network.
"It's a good
start," Coady said, though spread across 10 provinces over five or six
years, "it's not a lot of money."
What's needed is
cooperation and more money from the provincial government, he said. Money should
be spent to enlarge the list of recognized universities for most professions,
which is currently restricted to Commonwealth countries, but not large sources
of immigrants such as China, the Philippines and Iran.
There are stories among
Canadian immigrants of foreign-trained doctors sweeping floors; of engineers
making a living doing manicures and nurses working as lower paid caregivers and
housekeepers. Prime Minister Paul Martin handed Fry the job of solving the
multi-faceted problem.
Fry said immigrants
entering the Canadian workforce face five main stumbling blocks:
- Having their credentials
assessed and recognized and meeting Canadian requirements;
- Language skills;
- Lack of experience in
the Canadian workforce;
- Lack of awareness among
employers of the availability and importance of foreign trained workers;
- Discrimination.
"There is no silver
bullet, there is no one answer," Fry said, referring to the complexity
surrounding the foreign credentials issue and the many organizations and
agencies governing different areas in the workforce.
Leah Diana, a coordinator
of the Filipino Nurses Support Group, said the current system works against
nurses emigrating from the Philippines to Canada, even though this country is
suffering a growing nursing shortage.
She said many trained
nurses from the Philippines can only get into Canada on a special caregiver
program which sees them working for two years as live-in caregivers. They then
face de-skilling issues after the length of time away from practising their
profession, she said. As well, it's expensive to get through all the required
steps in having their credentials assessed and completing assessment
examinations here.
"This is outrageous
when there is a dire nursing shortage," she said of the bottlenecks
preventing more nurses from joining Canada's health care ranks.
"We allege there is a
systemic racism we face," said Diana. "We are stereotyped as domestic
workers."
Rudi Unterthiner, 66, a
former plastic surgeon and volunteer general practitioner in the U.S. and
Mexico, hopes the symbolism of the federal initiative will lead to some sort of
oversight of the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons, which he said rejected
his offer to practise medicine in his retirement home of Quadra Island.
"I'm willing to do
this. I'm healthy," he said, noting his case is unique because he was
actually trained in Canada. But the root problem, in Unterthiner's mind, is the
unaccountability of professional bodies. Until that changes, the problem of
trained people unable to work will persist.
"Sooner or later,
it's got to be so once someone passes an exam, they have to issue a licence [to
practise]."
While critics said the
announcement is an attempt to win votes by a minority Liberal government,
Dosanjh denied it.
"We have been working
on this for some time," he said.
In Toronto, Conservative
leader Stephen Harper said the Liberals are "dropping bombs of money ...in
the hope of blasting away the image of corruption in government.
"These are all just
announcements, they're all done for PR purposes," he said.
BY THE NUMBERS:
$180,000
the cost of residency training in Canada
$75 million
earmarked for integration of foreign-trained medical professionals
1,000 doctors
will be integrated in the next five years
800 nurses
will be integrated in the next five years
$56 million
to fight discrimination in the workplace
as of April 18, 2005 Ottawa eases immigration rules
Volpe to announce measures to speed family
reunifications
International students will be able to work while in school
BRUCE
CAMPION-SMITH
OTTAWA
BUREAU
OTTAWA—Canada
will throw open its doors to help reunite parents and grandparents with their
children who have already settled here.
The federal government will spend $72 million over
the next two years to speed applications and help the new immigrants get settled
in Canada.
As well today, Immigration Minister Joe Volpe will
announce that international students in Canada will be able to work while
attending school and he'll commit more money to reduce the huge backlog in
citizenship applications.
The measures, to be unveiled this morning by Volpe
at a Brampton news conference and later in Montreal, are meant to address
long-standing frustrations with the immigration system. "He'll be moving
forward quite quickly in some key areas of immigration policy and removing some
of the long-standing irritants," said an Ottawa source familiar with the
details of today's announcement.
The change that is expected to draw the biggest
plaudits will be Ottawa's immediate move to triple the number of parents and
grandparents that Canada will accept over the next two years, to 18,000 a year.
That will help reduce a backlog that currently
stands at 100,000.
The change to reunite families faster is
"huge," the federal official said.
At the same time, the immigration department will
make it easier for these parents and grandparents to visit Canada while they
wait for the applications to be processed. Typically, they've been denied the
chance to visit because immigration officials often didn't trust them to leave,
the source said.
"The department has been saying `no' to a
whole bunch of parents who want to come for a temporary visit," the source
said.
Because of that suspicion, parents have been kept
out of the country for up to five years — the time it can take to process some
of the applications.
"That's a long time to not be able to visit.
... This will bring immediate improvements," the source said.
Starting today, the department will be more willing
to grant parents and grandparents multiple-entry visas while their applications
are being processed.
Officials stressed, however, that health and
security checks would remain in place.
In Montreal today, Volpe will also announce that
international students will be able to work while enrolled in school. That
hasn't been allowed except at a few pilot projects.
While the move will let students earn money to help
defray the cost of tuition, the real push for the change was to let them get a
job in their field of study "for co-op programs, for example, or someone
who needed work experience in order to graduate," the source said.
Volpe expects the change will be a big boost to the
recruitment of international students. In 2001, 60,000 students from abroad came
to study at Canadian universities.
With the changes announced today, the immigration
department thinks that number could jump by 20,000 and it will spend $50 million
over five years to meet higher demand.
And because foreign students pay much higher
tuitions than Canadian students, federal officials say the change could be a
windfall for universities, pumping $250 million more into Ontario schools.
"It's an immediate economic impact for the
provinces," the source said.
When the students graduate, Ottawa will let them
work up to two years in Canada, instead of the one year allowed now.
But the change, which takes effect today, only
applies if they find work outside of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver "to
try and spread the benefits of immigration."
As well, today Volpe will promise that an 18-month
backlog of applications — an estimated 350,000 people — will be knocked down
to one year and he'll commit $69 million in new funding to do it.
The department is also easing its citizenship
requirements for older immigrants.
Until now, for people 60 years or older who have
been in Canada for at least three years, the department has been willing to
waive the requirement that they speak English or French and that their knowledge
of Canada be tested.
That age will be lowered to 55, a recognition that
"it's become fairly onerous for a wide group of folks who haven't been able
to get their Canadian citizenship," the source said.
In Edmonton on Saturday, Volpe said the federal
government would accelerate the admission of foreign workers into Canada,
Canadian Press reports.
"We need everybody," Volpe said.
"It's a function of a booming economy."
Additional resources will be put into immigrant
application processing, fast-tracking the admission of about 110,000 wage
earners, Volpe said, elaborating on measures previously announced in the federal
budget. The action will cut a backlog of immigration cases by 25 per cent, the
minister predicted.
Canadians Traveling to UNITED STATES
As of May
29, 2003
ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS
TO US BOARDER
The requirements of U.S. authorities for identification upon entering
the United States have recently become much stricter. The most important
formality on entering the United States is providing proof of your
Canadian citizenship. In order to avoid possible problems, Canadians
should carry a Canadian passport for all visits to the United States.
Your Canadian passport is the best document to prove your
Canadian citizenship and your right to return to Canada. To enter or
transit the United States, you may also be asked for evidence of
residential, employment or educational ties to Canada; proof that the
trip is for a legitimate purpose and is of a reasonable length; and for
proof of financial support while in the United States.
The
Government of the United States has imposed a requirement that all
airlines that are operating flights into the United States are obligated
to collect the following information for every passenger: full legal
name, gender, date of birth, nationality and travel document number.
This information is provided to the U.S. Customs Service in advance of a
flight's arrival in the United States. As a condition of travel, all
passengers travelling to the United States, or in transit through the
United States to a third country, must provide this information at the
time of flight check-in. This program is referred to as the United
States Advanced Passenger Information System and it is a part of the
security measures implemented by the United States post September 11,
2001.
Since March 2003, persons with landed immigration status in Canada must
obtain a non-immigrant visa in order to enter the United States. Such
persons must also possess a valid passport from their country of
citizenship.
However, this regulatory change will not affect persons with landed
immigration status in Canada who are citizens of countries that have a
visa waiver agreement with the United States. A visa waiver agreement
provides for reciprocal visa-free entry into each other's territories
The United States has visa waiver agreements with the following
countries: Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San
Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United
Kingdom (including its colonies, territories, and dependencies). Persons
who are landed immigrants in Canada and citizens of these countries are
not required to obtain a visa prior to entry into the United States if
they are travelling for business or tourism and their stay will be less
than 90 days. Persons with landed immigration status in Canada who are
citizens of countries other than those listed above are obligated to
obtain a visa from the American authorities before entering the United
States.
Persons who have landed immigration status in Canada and who travel
using either a British National Overseas Passport or a Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region Passport will require visas in order to enter the
United States.
Since August 2003, new American policy requires travellers from certain
countries to have a visa to transit through the United States. This
requirement does not apply to Canada, which is a visa-exempt country.
All carriers (noticeably airlines, but also rail and bus services) have
become much stricter about requiring proof of admissibility to Canada,
as a result of the heavy fines they face for carrying inadmissible
passengers. Birth and baptismal certificates are no longer accepted as
valid identification, because they do not have photographs. You are
required to have an accompanying valid photo identification. Even
carriers taking Canadians from Canada to the United States on round-trip
tickets have refused to return the travellers to Canada without valid
photo identification and proof of Canadian citizenship. Subsequently,
many travellers have had to contact Canadian government offices in the
United States for assistance. Your identification would then have to be
confirmed by Canadian provincial or federal authorities prior to
admission into Canada. These administrative procedures take time and you
should expect a travelling delay.
Permanent residents minus new cards fear
holiday-travel snafus
|
Adrienne
Tanner
|
|
The
Province
|
|
| Bert
Heeringa knows when he boards the plane for a two-week vacation in
Cancun this Christmas, he may have trouble coming home.
A long-time
permanent resident who lives in Courtenay, Heeringa missed the
deadline to apply for a permanent-resident card.
As of Dec.
31, all permanent residents will be required to produce the new
card in order to board a return flight.
Heeringa, a
native of Australia, is willing to take the chance.
His
daughters, ages 12 and 14, have been looking forward for months to
spending Christmas with their cousins on the beach.
"They're
pretty excited," he said." I haven't exactly told them
there may be some challenges getting my permanent-residency card.
It's too disappointing."
He plans to
enjoy his holiday and then do what he can to persuade the airline
to let him return on Jan. 3.
Heeringa is
one of hundreds of permanent residents who did not apply for their
new picture identification in time.
Many
procrastinated, some missed the government advertising blitz and
others simply did not understand they were among the immigrants
required to apply for a card.
It all adds
up to a last-minute panic among permanent residents with travel
plans this holiday season.
People have
cancelled their trips because they can't get a card in time and
fear leaving the country without it, said Ki Sung Kim, owner of
Korea Express Travel.
Dennis McCrea,
a Vancouver immigration lawyer, said the numbers may be higher
than anyone imagines.
"There
are thousands of people who don't have their cards -- and have no
idea they need them to board a commercial flight," said
McCrea.
McCrea
predicts there will be mayhem at the airports and overseas
Immigration Canada offices when people are turned back.
Immigration
officials say the department has lived up to its promise.
Advertising
for the new cards began in the fall of 2002, said Janis Fergusson,
an immigration spokeswoman.
And as
promised, everyone who applied for a card before the end of
September will receive it before year end, she said.
The
department even extended office hours to make it easier for people
to obtain their cards, which must be picked up in person.
There is also
an emergency option for travellers who missed the deadline,
Fergusson said. Once they are away, those without cards can apply
at an overseas Immigration Canada office for a one-time re-entry
permit.
That's not so
bad if you're headed to a city where Canada has an immigration
post, says Veronica Cheng, a Vancouver immigration lawyer.
"But if
you go away to Hawaii for your holiday and you're booked to return
on Jan. 3, the closest mission is Seattle," she says.
Heeringa, who
is going to Cancun, would have to stop off at an immigration
office in Mexico City, Los Angeles or Seattle on his way home.
Cheng has
suggested some clients reroute their flights through Seattle so
they can drive home.
"You can
drive back without the permanent resident card," she says.
Catherine Sas,
another immigration lawyer who has fielded many panicked calls
from clients, says the government should extend the deadline to
ease the holiday travel rush.
Lawyer Andrew
Wlodyka, however, has no sympathy for those who say they did not
know about the card. The government has been running ads for more
than a year warning people about the impending change, he said.
"Where have they been -- living in an igloo?"
Heeringa said
his oversight prompted him to do something he probably should have
done years ago -- apply to become a citizen.
But that,
too, takes time and will not help him in Cancun. For this trip, he
is crossing his fingers and placing his faith in his well-worn
Australian passport.
atanner@png.canwest.com
© Copyright 2003 The
Province
|
| Nov. 29, 2003. 01:00 AM |
 |
Criteria
varies in cases of conjugal partners
ALLEN THOMPSON
Q I am Canadian and met a man
online from England, in May, 2002. In October, 2002, I met him in
person, in London. We decided we have a future together and being
together in Canada is what we want to pursue. I am 56 and he is
55. He arrived this May for an extended visit. We applied and
received a further six months to his visitor's status, which now
expires May 8. We have obtained a conjugal kit and common-law kit
to submit to the immigration department so that I can sponsor him.
The paperwork seems overwhelming and we don't want any mistakes.
We have been told that a lawyer is not needed. How do I know if we
are wasting time and money in our submission?
A Be careful. There is a special
category called the in-Canada class designed to allow sponsorship
applications from people who are already in Canada and are either
married to or in a common-law relationship with a Canadian
resident. But, the in-Canada class is not open to people who are
in conjugal relationships. What's the difference? To qualify as a
common-law partner, you must have lived together for at least 12
months. If you apply now, you will eventually be told that your
partner doesn't qualify because, at the time of your application,
you had only been living together for six months or so. Of course,
it will probably take the immigration department months to get
around to telling you this and by then you will have wasted even
more time and money. Your best course could be to wait until next
May, when you meet the criteria for common-law partners. That
means he will have to renew his visitor visa again. Alternatively,
he could return to England and submit a regular sponsorship
application from there, as a conjugal partner. Some suggest that
the application process is quicker from overseas anyway.
Q I am in the process of
divorcing my husband. I met another man and am engaged to be
married. Can I proceed with sponsoring him before my divorce is
final? Should I be with my fiancé (overseas) to submit the
application? Would it be possible for him to come to Canada while
the application is in process?
A You can proceed with the
sponsorship application before the divorce is final, but you may
have to jump through some hoops with the immigration department.
As a fiancée, you would sponsor him as your conjugal partner.
That means, you regard this person as your life partner but you
haven't been able to live together. You don't have to be overseas
with him to submit the application, but you have to satisfy the
immigration department that you two are in a conjugal
relationship. There is no hard-and-fast definition, but the
immigration department manual on overseas processing says a
conjugal relationship means interdependency, mutual commitment and
exclusivity, and that such a relationship is not established when
two people meet or when they start to date or even necessarily
when they begin a sexual relationship. The manual says
establishing a conjugal relationship takes time, and it instructs
visa officers to assess the facts of each case individually. In
general terms, the manual suggests most conjugal partners will
likely have known one another for more than one year. To sponsor
your conjugal partner, you should first obtain the application kit
from the immigration department, fill it out and submit it with
the processing fee. Because you are still married, you will have
to satisfy a visa officer that you are separated from your legal
spouse and no longer living with him. You could be asked to
produce a signed formal declaration that the marriage has ended
and that you have entered into a conjugal partner relationship
with someone else. The visa officer could also ask you to produce
other written evidence of a formal separation or of a breakdown of
the marriage. Acceptable documents include a separation agreement,
a court order concerning custody of children that identifies the
fact of the marriage breakdown, or documents removing the legally
married spouse from insurance policies or your will, for example.
Whether your husband-to-be can
visit you in Canada while you wait for his immigration application
to be processed depends on a number of factors. What country is he
from? If he would normally require a visitor visa to enter Canada,
then whether he can come will depend on whether the visa officers
decide to let him do so. If he doesn't need a visa, he would
likely have little difficulty coming for a visit. But he could
still be denied entry if an immigration officer at the port of
entry suspects he is coming to stay permanently, not to visit. In
any event, he will have to leave the country at some point to pick
up his landed immigrant status from outside Canada.
|
|
|
|
|
