Remote communities of BC are facing the influx of refugees and displaced individuals (in less than a year, Archway processed more than 200 refugees who arrived on charter flights). Among them are doctors, teachers, IT specialists, etc. who are eager to enter the Canadian labour market and work in their occupations. However, the majority of them face barriers when it comes to credential recognition, such as financial barriers, lack of documentation from the home country, and difficulty navigating the process.

Archway is introducing a new program to internationally trained newcomers residing in the Fraser Valley who are not employed in their profession to prepare for their credential recognition process by completing the Educational Credential Assessment with World Education Services (WES) via a regular assessment route, as well as WES Gateway Program.

WES Gateway Program assesses the educational credentials of applicants who have limited proof of academic achievements due to ongoing armed conflict or environmental disaster. The program provides for an exemption from the requirement of having the education documents submitted to WES directly by educational institutions. As a result of the program, participants obtain a high-quality credential evaluation report that can be accepted and recognized by employers, higher education institutions, and regulatory bodies.

Archway will act as a designated partner organization in the Fraser Valley and will support newcomers in the WES application process by providing funding, offering translation services, review and preparation of documents, and submission of applications to WES through a partner portal.

The project will create a reliable, rigorous, and replicable model to assess international credentials even when verifiable education documents are not available. Therefore, it will effectively address the purpose and need of removing barriers for newcomers who have international credentials to navigate the credential assessment and recognition process and connect them to their chosen professions.

Recognizing international credentials extends beyond reviewing educational or work history documentation. It also involves understanding how to find accurate resources, begin the process, navigate the myriad of information (or mis-information) plus follow through on required next steps. This takes extensive financial resources, time and resilience and is often the reason newcomers do not return to their fields of expertise.

Over and above knowing how to navigate the pathways, newcomers have limited funding for the costs of foreign credential recognition and subsequent licensing fees. Many occupations cost tens of thousands of dollars to go through credential recognition, assessments, exams and other mandatory fees. Thus, many newcomers who were hopeful when they stepped on the plane to come to Canada, often give up if they do start the process. Sometimes due to frustration and sometimes due to competing priorities on how to use their dwindling savings or incomes. Recent cost of living increases have made choices even more difficult.

The ICRF Grant will be used to offset the credential and licensing costs, specifically for Internationally Educated Health Professionals (IEHPs). This will complement and not duplicate other funding sources available including the Province of BC’s funding currently available through the Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants program. The goal is to provide financial relief to clients returning to medical jobs including Physicians, Nurses, Sonographers, Pharmacists and Dentists.

Access to funding support may also encourage reluctant IEHPs to pursue required steps to licensure and related employment thereby attaching more quickly to commensurate or aligned work in healthcare.

The ICR Program at ISSofBC aims to serve internationally trained professionals who are not eligible for the existing Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants program. The Service will include job search support, financial support for credential evaluation, skills upgrading and other related costs, professional networking and mentoring support.

The ASPECT-DIVERSEcity Foreign Credential Recognition Program aims to support skilled newcomers in BC start the credentialing process in Canada so they can integrate back into the labour force utilizing the skills and professions they obtain back home. The program offers one-on-one coaching, action planning, and resources for newcomers to navigate the recredentialing process. Additionally the program offers seed funding based on need to support participants with the initial costs of recredentialing.

The project addresses two identified and related barriers to credential recognition that Internationally Trained Professionals (ITPs) encounter:

1. Lack of knowledge, skills in workplace communication, and

2. Access to placements with employers to complete Canadian experience requirements.

The project supports ITPs currently pursuing licensure with the following:

1. Workplace communication acquisition. Through the development of a new curriculum with an instructional designer, the program will address specific occupational language barriers related to regulated occupations. The curriculum will be split in several online learning modules that will be available on Moodle, thus, facilitating the expansion and sustainability of the program.

2. Placement supports with local employers to complete the Canadian experience requirement ubiquitous to regulated occupations in British Columbia. To develop the framework for placement success, to create awareness and to generate ‘by in’ from employers, a part-time Project Facilitator, providing registration and liaison support, works jointly with an Immigrant Employment Specialist (an in-kind contribution) as well as ICA’s Greater Victoria Local Immigration Partnership (GVLIP), helping to facilitate outreach and connections.

The project’s eligibility criteria will account for the needs of permanent residents, naturalized Canadian citizens and/or temporary residents with a valid work permit, who are not eligible for existing services.

Upon its completion, the proposed project will continue beyond the funding agreement as the project design will account for sustainability and inclusion in existing employment services. The workplace communication training/tools will be provided online though Moodle; current and future clients will be able to access the training. Project Staff/ICA staff will continue providing placement supports for clients wishing to receive the supports.

The ICR program supports skilled newcomers move towards obtaining recognized professional credentials within Canada. Through individualized, holistic case management, the ICR program guides newcomers through the credential recognition continuum, providing supports related to verifying education credentials, credential related funding, and navigating various professional & regulatory bodies. The ICR program aims to support newcomers in their journey towards obtaining well paying, stable employment within their field

The ICR program aims to fill in the financial, service, and time constraint gaps left by comparable programming and serve as a tandem service to ensure participants are receiving holistic supports that provides them with the full capacity to obtain their credentials in a reasonable time frame.

A shortage of nurses is a large factor in contributing to the crisis in our healthcare system in this province. The 2022 BC Labour Market Outlook predicts over 20,000 openings province-wide over the next 10 years. The report also suggests that newcomers will play a big role in filling those positions. This means we need a smooth and streamlined process to get foreign credentials recognized and internationally educated nurses (IENs) working. However, the process of credential recognition is currently multi-pronged and navigating it can be challenging. There are some

support programs available to assist newcomers with the credentialing process, but there are gaps in service, particularly in rural areas of BC.

This project aims to create a user-friendly and detailed tool for IENs to efficiently navigating the system, either with the support of an employment counsellor or on their own. We are looking to create a step-by-step guide document as well as in interactive virtual process map. There will be two separate documents, one for IENs trained in Australia, New Zealand, UK and US, the second for IENs trained in other countries.

We will also create a library of resources, both physical and virtual, as these are not readily available in our rural area. Additionally, there will be some financial supports available to participants as they are going through the credentialing process to cover costs that are not already supported by other programs.

It is the aim of the project to have the checklists available for any IEN or employment counsellor in BC, understanding that processes are constantly evolving and changing and documents will have to be adjusted accordingly. This project will also help in identifying and addressing additional barriers to the credentialing process in rural areas. The aim is to attract more IENs to rural areas of BC.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. International Credential Recognition (ICR) Support Program improves the ICR process for Internationally Trained Dentists (ITDs) and Nurses (ITNs) by providing them with peer support groups, focused study groups and capacity building around mental health & wellness and Reconciliation, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.