Sean Fraser, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, has been an advocate for easing the immigration process for permanent residents in Canada.
The Canadian government is making it simpler for foreign-trained healthcare professionals to settle permanently in Canada as its provinces work to recruit and keep more of them to help with shortages. At a time when the elderly population of Canada most needs access to family physicians, doctors from all over the world who choose to work in the country are essential to making that happen.
Sean Fraser, after a meeting with family doctors at a local Hospital, made a critical decision. Soon after the meeting, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced changes to make it simpler for foreign-born doctors to remain in Canada so they can continue to practise in Canada and support its healthcare system.
Fraser has been an advocate for easing the immigration process for permanent residents in Canada. For industries where there is a persistent labour shortage, Fraser earlier presented a plan to boost the number of international students and foreign workers, eligible for permanent residency, with considerable work experience. This happened after the House of Commons passed Liberal MP Randeep Sarai’s Private Member’s Motion M-44 in May.
Fraser claims that, given the importance of temporary foreign workers and international students to Canada’s economy, the Justin Trudeau administration intends to open up more paths to permanent residency. According to the minister, foreign employees provide a variety of skill sets and educational backgrounds that support company growth, creativity and productivity, all of which help Canada’s economy recover and expand.
As the “fee-for-service” model used in Canada for healthcare professionals is outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship, some physicians have encountered obstacles in obtaining permanent residence through Canada’s flagship programmes for skilled workers managed under the Express Entry system. Because of this, some doctors are currently regarded as self-employed and are, therefore, ineligible for the economic avenues to permanent residency.
In order to solve this issue, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will now exclude doctors who collaborate with public health authorities on a fee-for-service basis from the existing rules. With this modification, physicians will have access to Canada’s economic permanent residence programmes and will be recognised for the distinctive employment model used in the country’s healthcare system.
The IRCC is enhancing its immigration system to enable foreign nationals who are currently in Canada to remain and work here in order to help alleviate labour shortages. This will allow more of the doctors who are already in place and are filling important positions in Canada’s healthcare system to stay in place.
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