Published on 05/23/2023 at 18:13
Ontario Secretary of Labor Monte McNaughton announced Tuesday that Professional Engineers Ontario has removed that requirement for qualified immigrant engineers. (Photo: The Canadian Press)
Toronto – Foreign-trained engineers no longer need Canadian work experience to be licensed to practice in Ontario.
Ontario Secretary of Labor Monte McNaughton announced Tuesday that Professional Engineers Ontario has removed that requirement for qualified immigrant engineers. According to the government, this measure will help fill around 7,000 vacancies.
Professional Engineers Ontario estimates that up to 60% of license applicants reviewed each year have international training.
Minister McNaughton says this is the first trade school to make the change since Ontario passed legislation in October 2021 that will prevent more than 30 non-healthcare and craft trades in Canada from requiring hands-on experience.
Mr McNaughton called this requirement the “biggest hurdle” for immigrants wanting to work in well-paying jobs.
The minister expects all professional bodies, from architects to surveyors, to proactively abandon this requirement by the end of the year, the statutory deadline.
Sara Asalya, director of Newcomer Women’s Service Toronto, hailed Ontario as the first province “to ban discriminatory work experience requirements for certain regulated professions in Canada.”
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