Speaking Points
for
the Honourable Diane Finley,
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development,
at the official launch of the Broadly Experienced Foreign Architects Program
with Architecture Canada
September 21, 2012
IIDEX Canada Expo and Conference
Toronto, Ontario
Note: IIDEX = International Interior Design Exposition
It gives me great pleasure to be here at the IIDEX 2012 Expo and Conference, Canada’s largest design and architecture show.
I would like to thank Interior Designers of Canada and Architecture Canada for once again putting together a great conference.
And thanks to Architecture Canada and the Canadian Architectural Licensing Authorities for all your efforts on behalf of architects in Canada and around the world, enabling the launch of a very important program today.
It’s only fitting that this event is being held in the Direct Energy Centre, with its striking architectural exterior.
There’s a lot of history on these grounds.
The Centre continues a tradition established in 1858 with the building of the Crystal Palace, the first permanent trade and exhibition hall here in Toronto.
The people who, over the years, have worked on these structures bear witness to Canada’s evolving contributions to architectural design.
But as disciplines such as yours evolve and expand, you are increasingly facing skills shortages across the country, which are putting pressure on the labour market and could eventually slow our economic growth.
Our government’s top priorities are job creation, economic growth and long-term prosperity, and we recognize that internationally trained professionals help fill skills shortages in key occupations and contribute to Canada’s economy.
An efficient labour market is the foundation of economic prosperity. The quality of our current, future and potential workforce is our greatest strength, so we need to ensure that everyone has the resources needed to fully contribute and participate in the labour market.
We believe that skills and training are absolutely critical to addressing labour shortages and enable people to work in fields relevant to their training.
Currently, too many newcomers and Canadians with international training are doing jobs that are far below their real abilities.
Why?
The answer is because many of them have a hard time getting their credentials recognized.
This is why we are working with partners like Architecture Canada so that newcomers can find meaningful work in their fields faster.
Over the past two years, Architecture Canada has worked in partnership with the 11 Canadian Architectural Licensing Authorities, as well as Athabasca University, to develop a new approach to recognizing international qualifications in the field of architecture.
In September 2010, I had the pleasure of announcing $1.9 million in federal funding to create the Broadly Experienced Foreign Architects Program, or BEFA, in partnership with Architecture Canada and the Canadian Architectural Licensing Authorities.
Today, I am proud to be with you all again as we launch this ground-breaking endeavour.
Thanks to BEFA, internationally trained architects will be able to find out sooner whether their qualifications meet Canadian standards of practice, or if they need to undergo further training or skills upgrading.
In earlier pilots of this program, several candidates were successful in becoming certified architects in Canada.
Our future growth and productivity will depend on how well we integrate internationally trained workers into our labour force.
With this objective in mind, our government invested $50 million through Canada’s Economic Action Plan to work with the provinces and territories, and other stakeholders, to improve foreign credential recognition.
This partnership led to the implementation of a national framework that is speeding up foreign credential recognition for certain priority occupations, such as architects and nurses.
I’m proud to say that workers in eight target occupations can now expect to have their qualifications assessed within one year.
The one-year service standard applies across the country.
This is a great achievement.
To me, the BEFA program launched today is a perfect example of how the Framework is bringing meaningful change to the way that newcomers’ qualifications are assessed and recognized in Canada.
But our work doesn’t stop there.
In Economic Action Plan 2012, our government announced support for further improvements to foreign credential recognition.
We will continue to work in partnership with the provinces and territories to identify more target occupations under the Framework.
In addition, this February we launched the Foreign Credential Recognition Loans Pilot program.
The loans will be delivered in partnership with community organizations. They will help professionals trained abroad to cover the costs associated with having their education and experience recognized so they can become licensed to work in their fields of expertise in Canada.
We are making real progress toward a fairer, more transparent, timely and consistent recognition system.
By collaborating with organizations like yours, we’re helping newcomers find fulfilling and rewarding work that contributes to Canada’s economy and overall competitiveness.
With your help, we can ensure that everyone has the chance to share in Canada’s prosperity.
This is the essence of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.
More choices.
More opportunities.
More jobs.
And a better future for all Canadians.
Thank you.
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