This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.
Clare Muruatetu expected to easily land a position in her field after immigrating from Ivory Coast to Edmonton three years ago.
But the applications piled up, despite her MBA in project management and previous roles with the United Nations and African Development Bank.
“I had a wealth of experience and education background to back me up but there were many more barriers that I wasn’t aware of before I came,” Muruatetu, originally from Kenya and fluent in English and French, recently told CBC News.
She called for better recognition that newcomers “are not starting from scratch, which they make most immigrants do when they move here.”
It’s a grim reality many hopeful professionals discover after immigrating to Canada only to end up unemployed, underemployed or juggling a patchwork of part-time gigs.
In a new CBC/Pollara survey, 54 per cent of surveyed immigrants living in Canada said it was difficult to find a job in their field.
A little more than 1,500 adult Canadian residents were surveyed online between Nov. 1 and 18, 2024. They all arrived in Canada in the past ten years. The poll has a comparable margin of error of about 2.5 per cent.
Just over 15 per cent reported that their credentials or academic degrees weren’t recognized in Canada.
Eleven per cent said that they faced discrimination or racism when looking for a job in Canada.
Some initiatives are underway to tackle those barriers at provincial and local levels.
At the Africa Centre, Muruatetu is among 20 professional immigrant women who took part in a project called Disrupting Settlement Inequities.
The information gathered from participants in the event is meant to be used to draft policy recommendations.
“It’s just being given that opportunity, that’s a barrier for them,” said Halima Mohamud, a social worker who manages the Africa Centre’s Enhancing Gender Equity Program.
At 9.8 per cent, unemployment among immigrants in Alberta living here five years or less is above the provincial average of 7.5 per cent, Statistics Canada reported in November.
While Alberta’s population growth is slowing, it still outpaces the rest of the country due to high inter-provincial and overseas migration.
The federal government cut the target for new permanent residents entering Canada last October but Alberta’s premier Danielle Smith said it was far from enough to alleviate financial pressures on provinces.
Most respondents surveyed by CBC News said that Canada has accepted too many newcomers for the level of housing or job opportunities that are available.
While we are dealing with a critical shortage of healthcare workers, it is ironic that numerous qualified and trained professionals remain unable to find employment in their field.– Habiba Abdulle
At the Alberta Somali Community Centre, executive director Habiba Abdulle said opportunities for foreign-born health professionals in larger cities like Edmonton and Calgary are almost non-existent.
For example, Abdulle said up until five years ago nurses were hired roughly four months after gaining Canadian accreditation, and now it takes more than a year.
Some of Abdulle’s clients have moved to smaller centres such as Wainwright or Yellowknife to be able to practice in their field.
Abdulle recalled recently hiring a man desperate for work to paint the community centre, only to learn afterward that he was a heart surgeon in Syria.
“While we are dealing with a critical shortage of healthcare workers, it is ironic that numerous qualified and trained professionals remain unable to find employment in their field,” Abdulle said Tuesday.
Addressing credential barriers
Another program is off the ground thanks to a provincial grant awarded to the City of Edmonton. It aims to strengthen the ability of employers to recognize foreign credentials.
The Community-Commerce Connect initiative, in partnership with the city, IslamicFamily, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Alberta Provincial Council and others, will target hiring practices and cultural competency.
“If employers had more tools to actually make sure that the basic rules of work and the basic process of getting onboarded are followed, I think that they would be able to access and retain a lot more workers, and those workers could develop into higher skilled positions as well,” said Mark Chaney, project coordinator for the initiative.
At the provincial level, Neil Singh, press secretary to the immigration and multiculturalism minister, said Alberta has created an advisory committee to streamline credential recognition processes. Recommendations are due in mid-2025.
He said Alberta has invested more than $2.8 million since 2021 in projects to mentor immigrants in professions including information technology and international medical graduates.
“The Government of Alberta is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming province that supports all Albertans, including skilled immigrants striving to find jobs commensurate with their qualifications,” Singh wrote in an email Tuesday.