Simcoe, November 30, 2007 — The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today announced that as of November 30th, 320 Service Canada centres across the country are now offering in-person credentials referral services for newcomers trained internationally.
The services are part of the Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO) which is helping internationally trained individuals who want to work in Canada find the information they need to get their credentials assessed and recognized more quickly.
The Minister made the announcement at the Service Canada centre in Simcoe, Ontario.
“When we first launched the FCRO in May we promised to make foreign credential referral services available in 320 Service Canada outlets before the end of the year and with today’s announcement we have kept that promise,” said Minister Finley. “Internationally-trained individuals can now walk into Service Canada centres across the country and receive in-person help on how to get their credentials assessed and recognized. Newcomers want to contribute to our country by working in the fields for which they’ve been trained, and we want to help them do that.”
The information and referral services being provided at the Service Canada centres are part of the broader federal FCRO initiative announced in May 2007 that provides information, path-finding and referral services to help internationally-trained individuals use their skills in Canada. In addition to the in-person services, the FCRO’s approach also includes:
a dedicated toll-free phone service in Canada provided by Service Canada
(1-888-854-1805 or TTY 1-800-926-9105);
an interactive website at www.credentials.gc.ca that helps internationally-trained individuals identify occupations in Canada for which they may be qualified, provide them with detailed labour market information, and refer them to the appropriate regulatory body;
overseas orientation programs where foreign credential and labour market information is provided to prospective immigrants outside of Canada early in the immigration process; expanded orientation sessions are being delivered in India, China and the Philippines.
increased employer awareness of the processes for, and benefits of, hiring internationally-trained and educated professionals.
Since the FCRO was launched on May 24, 2007, the web site has had over 120,000 visits, more than 65% of which were from outside the country. The dedicated phone line has received over 900 calls, of which half were for information and half for referrals to assessment or regulatory bodies. In addition, overseas orientation sessions have served more than 1,200 prospective immigrants and sessions have been expanded to include rotational services in India and China.
The Foreign Credentials Referral Office works closely with the Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) Program, which is located within Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Other partners include provinces, territories, regulatory bodies, post-secondary institutions, sector councils and employers to improve the integration of internationally-trained individuals into the work force. The FCR Program works with partners across Canada to ensure that foreign credential recognition processes across the country are fair, consistent, transparent and rigorous.
For further information (media only), please contact:
Tim Vail
Press Secretary
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
