The Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills, today announced the launch of public consultations that will examine barriers to foreign qualification recognition in Newfoundland and Labrador, and identify opportunities for improvement from the perspectives of newcomers, occupational regulators, and employers while ensuring existing standards are maintained.
Improving foreign qualification recognition processes will help unlock the full economic potential of newcomers to Newfoundland and Labrador and increase the staffing of in-demand positions across many sectors of the economy. The consultations also support the ambitious Provincial Government immigration target of welcoming 5,100 newcomers per year by 2026.
Consultations will occur through engagement sessions with foreign-trained individuals and newcomers, provincial occupational regulatory bodies, educational institutions, Indigenous governments, industry associations and municipalities. Online consultations are open to the public and available through engageNL.
For a list of regulatory bodies and groups that will be engaged in the consultations, please see the enclosed backgrounder. Other groups that have an interest in foreign credential recognition are encouraged to provide a submission through engageNL.
Quotes
“Newcomers are arriving in Newfoundland and Labrador in record numbers, bringing with them impressive credentials that we desperately need. Out of every province in Canada they chose to come here, and duty calls us to help unlock their full potential. Newcomers and foreign-trained professionals deserve our serious attention to this issue and they will have it through these foreign credential recognition consultations.”
Honourable Gerry Byrne
Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills
– 30 –
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Improvements to Foreign Qualification Recognition
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Media contact
Jeremy Reynolds
Immigration, Population Growth and Skills
709-729-2377, 709-691-2298
jeremyreynolds@gov.nl.ca
BACKGROUNDER
Regulatory Bodies and Groups to Be Engaged
- College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador
- College of Physicians and Surgeons of Newfoundland and Labrador
- College of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Social Workers
- Newfoundland and Labrador Council of Health Professionals
- Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board
- Newfoundland and Labrador Psychology Board
- Provincial Medical Oversight, Eastern Health
- Teacher Certification Committee
- The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador
- The Association for New Canadians
- Post-secondary institutions
- Individuals with lived experiences who have worked or are working their way through the foreign qualification recognition process
- Other public stakeholders such as municipalities, community organizations, employer organizations, Indigenous governments.