Work

Ontario Seeks to Ban Employers From Requiring Canadian Work Experience on Application Forms

 

In a kind effort among the Canadian regions and territories, Ontario, expecting to ban employers from requesting Canadian work experience, has declared its plans to present a new ruling that would, if endorsed, stop employers from asking for Canadian work experience in their application forms and employment postings.

Declared on the 9th of November 2023, the Ministry for Labor, Training, Immigration, and Skills Development in Ontario expects this new decree will assist new immigrants in taking over the in-demand labor depletion all over the region. The suggested modifications are anticipated to begin next year and will be an aspect of legislation as the provincial administration intends to present early next week.

Based on Ontario Minister for Labour David Piccini, this effort will be of great benefit for new immigrants to Canada since, according to him, “for far too long, too many people landing in Canada have been funneled toward dead-end employment which is more qualified for.” To fight this, “We must ensure that these people can get well-paying and rewarding jobs that help tackle the labor depletion.” He also pointed out that “when newcomers arriving in Ontario get a meaningful chance to contribute, everyone wins.”

The Hopes of Ontario on These Proposed Legislative Modifications

The belief of Ontario is straightforward: the prohibition of Canadian work experience provisions will, according to the minister, “help even more foreign-trained immigrants work in the areas they have studied in.”

As expressed in a recent news release by the provincial administration, “this change would assist more eligible applicants progress in the interview process and is a step closer to making it simpler for internationally qualified immigrants to find meaningful work and donate to building Ontario.” Further from this assistance that this new decree would offer for the provincial labor force, Ontario Citizenship and Multiculturalism Minister Michael Ford states that “this change will help families as they begin their journey in their new home, build more energetic society and assist ensure businesses have the skills they require.”

The Effect of Immigration to Ontario

As declared in the press release stating this decree, immigration is an essential aspect of development in Canada and mainly in Ontario since Ontario annually embraces the most immigrants out of any other region or territory of Canada.

The press release indicates that “research has indicated that helping Internationally qualified newcomers work in the careers they studied for may elevate the province’s GDP by $100 billion in five years.”

Actions Made by Ontario to Embrace More Eligible Newcomers to Canada

The minister for labor in Ontario makes the worth of immigration to this region evident, and he said, “By the time newcomers to Ontario get a meaningful opportunity to contribute, everyone wins.”

Due to this, Ontario assigned 16,500 immigrants for PR in 2023. This will be achieved via the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, which is the region-devoted Provincial Nominee Program in a concerted move to embrace immigrants capable of donating to the regional labor market

Furthermore, to this recently declared ruling, the Ontario administration suggests many other modifications to assist the region’s actions towards stabilizing and enhancing the local labor market via immigration. Based on the current press release, three of these actions include:

Elevating the number of international students in Ontario qualified to apply to the Ontario Immigration Nominee Program.

The Ministry for Labor, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development highlights that this will be achieved by “revising qualifications requirement for hundreds of one-year college graduate certificate courses all over the region.”

Demanding the national administration to provide Ontario “significantly more influence” in picking the economic immigrants reaching the province.

The province has already started this process by demanding and being endorsed an increased share of Provincial Nominee Program nominations via the OINP. Also, the OINP share from the national administration will be more than double by 2025.

“Enhancing oversight and accountability” of the way regulated jobs use third-party organizations to “evaluate International qualifications to make sure evaluations are done in a way that is fast, evident and fair.”

This is anticipated to assist Ontario in maintaining those international students who already have an undergraduate program and desire to upgrade their education in Canada. Officials said modifications to the provincial immigrant nominee program begin in early 2024; however, other alterations may take longer to permit employers and professional regulators enough time to give in.