Employment Match Rates in the Regulated Professions: Trends and Policy Implications

Transcription

1 S28 Augustine Employment Match Rates in the Regulated Professions: Trends and Policy Implications HON. JEAN AUGUSTINE, FAIRNESS COMMISSIONER Office of the Fairness Commissioner, Toronto, Ontario Dans cet article, nous comparons les taux d appariement que l on observe dans des professions réglementées, d une part chez les immigrants ayant obtenu leur diplôme à l étranger et d autre part chez les Canadiens nés et ayant obtenu leur diplôme au pays. Nous examinons des données de Statistique Canada portant sur les années 2006 et 2011, analysons des tendances et comparons la situation de diverses provinces pendant les cinq années qui ont suivi l adoption de la loi ontarienne sur l accès équitable aux professions réglementées et aux métiers à accréditation obligatoire. Nos résultats confirment l importance : du rôle que les législations en matière d accès équitable jouent dans la responsabilisation des organismes de réglementation ; d un emgagement plus ferme des employeurs à embaucher des immigrants et à les garder à leur emploi ; d offrir aux immigrants de l information et de la formation pertinentes liées à des emplois de rechange ; et de mettre sur pied, avant l arrivée des immigrants au pays, des projets permettant de réduire la durée de la période où ils ne pourront pas pratiquer leur profession, sans accroître les obstacles à l immigration. Mots clés : immigrants, professions réglementées, accès équitable, octroi de permis, emploi, emplois de rechange, transition, engagement des employeurs This paper compares employment match rates for immigrants educated in a regulated profession with those of their Canadian-born and -educated counterparts. In particular, it examines Statistics Canada data for 2006 and 2011, analyzing trends and provincial comparisons over the five years following the implementation of Ontario s fair access legislation. Overall, the findings support a continued role for fair access legislation to hold regulators accountable, stronger engagement with employers to promote immigrant hiring and retention, specialized advisement and training for alternative careers, and thoughtfully designed pre-arrival initiatives that reduce time away from professional practice without increasing barriers to immigration. Keywords: immigrants, regulated professions, fair access, licensing, employment, alternative careers, bridging, employer engagement Introduction Skilled immigrants arrive in Canada with high levels of education and experience, expecting to apply these assets in commensurate employment. However, the reality is often quite different. The research literature finds significant discounting of immigrant education and work experience, resulting in limited access to professional and managerial jobs, disproportionate rates of unemployment and underemployment, and lower earnings relative to the Canadian born (Bonikowska, Green, and Riddell 2008; FQRWG 2014; Ikura 2007; Picot and Sweetman 2012; Reitz, Curtis, and Elrick 2014; Weiner 2008). Barriers to licensing and employment in the regulated professions have received particular attention. Licensing requirements and testing procedures present obstacles for internationally educated applicants, and often delay or prevent entry into regulated professions (Cheng, Spaling, and Song 2013; Novak and Chen 2013). In some professions, Canadian-experience requirements also contribute to systemic disadvantage for internationally educated applicants (OFC 2013a). Even when not required for licensure, Canadian experience is often expected by employers. Hall and Sadouzai (2010) find that employers are less likely to accept international experience in a regulated profession than in a high-tech unregulated occupation. Recommendations for addressing these barriers vary. Some researchers focus on improved assessment and better accountability for regulators (Cheng, Spaling, and Song 2013; Guo 2009); while others emphasize employer engagement and increased access to mentorships and Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015 doi: /cpp

2 Employment Match Rates in the Regulated Professions: Trends and Policy Implications S29 internships (Ikura 2007; Reitz, Curtis, and Elrick 2014). Related literature points to the potential and limitations of alternative careers, calling for specialized supports to help immigrants transition to a new career and professional identity (Novak and Chen 2013; Türegün 2011). A strong consensus exists on the need for improved pre-arrival information to help prospective immigrants make informed decisions, prepare themselves for the licensing process, and avoid unnecessary delays (Baumal and Johnson 2014; Cheng, Spaling, and Song 2013; George and Chaze 2012; Guo 2009; Ikura 2007; Reitz, Curtis, and Elrick 2014). Trend Analysis and Policy Impact This paper contributes to the search for solutions by using trend analysis of data from the 2006 Census of Population and the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) to track changes over time in the employment match rates of immigrants educated in a regulated profession. Trend analysis provides clues to policy impact over time, allowing for an assessment of the overall status of the immigrant employment problem, and how existing policies are working in the aggregate (Reitz, Curtis, and Elrick 2014). Zietsma (2010) established that immigrants who had studied internationally to work in a regulated profession were considerably less likely to be working in that profession compared to immigrants who had studied in Canada and to the Canadian born. Drawing on Zietsma s methodology, this paper extends the analysis to the 2011 NHS data. It also distinguishes between Canadian-born individuals who studied inside and outside Canada, and expands the scope of inquiry to include all regulated professions governed by Ontario s fair access legislation as of Occupations of those not working in the profession for which they were educated are identified and analyzed. Previous trend analysis of census data for 1996, 2001, and 2006 identified little aggregate impact for policies addressing the problem of immigrant skill utilization (Reitz, Curtis, and Elrick 2014). However, 2006 marked the launch of new interventions, meriting another assessment of impact. In December 2006, the Ontario government passed fair access legislation, establishing accountability measures for licensing bodies. The legislation was announced as the cornerstone of a suite of measures that included an Access Centre to help immigrant professionals navigate licensing systems; a Foreign Trained Professionals Loans Program to help with assessment, training, and exam costs; and new funding for bridge training, language instruction, and settlement services through the Canada Ontario Immigration Agreement (MCI 2006). Some other provinces followed suit with interventions of their own. Over the next six years, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Quebec all passed fair access laws and appointed a Fairness Commissioner or equivalent. Manitoba s Fairness Commissioner began work in 2008 (OMFC 2010); Quebec s Complaints Commissioner, in 2010 (OPQ 2014); and Nova Scotia s Review Officer, in 2012 (FRPA Review Office 2014). Meanwhile, the Forum of Labour Market Ministers (FLMM) announced the Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications in 2009, creating a structure for federal-provincial collaboration and a focus for new federal funding, primarily targeting national projects to harmonize licensing standards and assessment methodologies. This paper explores the question of impact, and identifies priorities for future intervention. Since Ontario took action first at the beginning of the census period, the research team hypothesized that gains for the internationally educated would be stronger here than in other provinces. However, we recognized that the impact of fair access interventions could not be separated from other factors influencing immigrant employment outcomes, such as immigration selection criteria and labour market conditions. Since these factors also change over time and across provinces, we interpret findings within this context Employment Match Rates: Ontario and the Rest of Canada Following the lead of Zietsma (2010), this paper looks at 15 professions that require a university education and are regulated across Canada. To this we add two professions with large numbers of recent immigrants engineering technology and medical laboratory technology that require a college diploma and are also regulated across Canada. Immigrants who received their professional education abroad were considerably less likely to work in their field than their Canadian-born and -educated counterparts. In Ontario, 24.1 percent of internationally educated immigrants were working in their profession, compared to 51.5 percent of the Canadian born and educated. For the rest of Canada (ROC), the corresponding figures were 24.7 percent and 54.7 percent. For individual professions, Ontario match rates compare favourably with those of the ROC. As Table 1 shows, Ontario match rates for internationally educated immigrants were equal or greater than average match rates for the ROC in 12 of 17 professions. This is an important finding, given the high numbers of recent arrivals that have come to the Greater Toronto Area. While immigrants tend to go to smaller centres in response to an employment offer, those looking for employment are attracted to large cities such as Toronto. For Ontario, comparatively strong match rates are thus an encouraging sign. Ontario match rates, however, were below the ROC average for engineering and medicine. Marginally lower match rates for engineers may reflect a stronger recessionary impact in Ontario, as compared to the Western provinces. Low match rates for physicians, 17.9 percent below the ROC average, reflect intense competition for residency spots and the reluctance of political and doi: /cpp Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015

3 S30 Augustine Data Sources and Definitions All data used in this study are drawn from three sources: 2006 Census of Population (custom tabulations provided by Statistics Canada) 2011 National Household Survey (custom tabulations provided by Statistics Canada) Office of the Fairness Commissioner database and annual reports, reflecting statistics reported by regulators in their annual Fair Registration Practices Reports Who is included in this study? Immigrants and persons born in Canada who meet all of the following criteria: non-institutional resident 15 years or older has a field of study that typically leads to a regulated profession has the level of post-secondary education normally required to be licensed is employed Occupations included in the provincial comparisons Architects Accountants Chiropractors Dentists Dietitians Engineers Engineering technicians / technologists Lawyers Medical laboratory technologists Occupational therapists Optometrists Pharmacists Physicians Physiotherapists Registered nurses Teachers Veterinarians Additional occupations included in the Ontario analysis Audiologists / speech-language pathologists Medical radiation technologists Chiropodists Midwives Dental hygienists Registered practical nurses Dental technologists Opticians Denturists Paralegals Early childhood educators Pharmacy technicians Foresters Psychologists Geoscientists Respiratory therapists Land surveyors Social service workers Massage therapists Social workers Educational requirements for licensing: For each of the regulated professions selected for this study, the level of education required for licensing is provided in online Appendix 1 at Employment match rate: The main indicator used in this study is the match rate the total number of people working in the regulated profession divided by the total number of employed people who have completed education that would normally lead to licensure in that profession. To identify employment matches, the research team developed a concordance table of national occupational classification (NOC) codes and classification of instructional program (CIP) codes corresponding to the regulated professions under study (see online Appendix 2 at For some small professions, the relevant codes were slightly broader than the regulated profession, but still specific enough to identify an approximate match. Similarly, CIP codes are not always a perfect match to international education, since they were developed to reflect the Canadian education system. However, they remain the best available tool to identify comparable education for immigrants and non-immigrants within the Statistics Canada data. Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015 doi: /cpp

4 Employment Match Rates in the Regulated Professions: Trends and Policy Implications S31 Table 1: Employment Match Rates for Internationally Educated Immigrants, Ontario and Rest of Canada, 2011 Professions Ontario Rest of Canada (ROC) Difference Match Rate and SE Match Rate and SE Ontario Minus Rest of Canada ON => ROC Architects 26.4% (+/ 1.2%) 26.0% (+/ 1.3%) 0.4% 3 Accountants 26.2% (+/ 0.6%) 23.1% (+/ 0.7%) 3.1%*** 3 Chiropractors 67.6% (+/ 6.7%) 78.0% (+/ 5.7%) 10.4%* Dentists 34.1% (+/ 1.9%) 30.7% (+/ 1.9%) 3.4%* 3 Dietitians 26.7% (+/ 5.8%) 10.8% (+/ 3.4%) 15.9%*** 3 Engineers 20.3% (+/ 0.3%) 22.2% (+/ 0.3%) 1.9%*** Lawyers 14.3% (+/ 0.9%) 13.3% (+/ 0.8%) 1.0% 3 Occupational therapists 69.8% (+/ 5.1%) 64.9% (+/ 4.9%) 4.9% 3 Optometrists 47.3% (+/ 5.9%) 57.4% (+/ 6.3%) 10.1%* Pharmacists 50.7% (+/ 1.4%) 34.4% (+/ 1.6%) 16.3%*** 3 Physicians 36.7% (+/ 1.0%) 54.6% (+/ 1.0%) 17.9%*** Physiotherapists 40.7% (+/ 2.4%) 38.1% (+/ 2.3%) 2.6% 3 Registered nurses 53.6% (+/ 1.1%) 45.3% (+/ 0.9%) 8.3%*** 3 Teachers 25.3% (+/ 0.6%) 17.5% (+/ 0.5%) 7.8%*** 3 Veterinarians 26.0% (+/ 2.7%) 36.8% (+/ 2.8%) 10.8%*** Engineering technologists 11.4% (+/ 0.5%) 11.3% (+/ 0.5%) 0.1% 3 Medical laboratory technologists 16.6% (+/ 1.3%) 14.6% (+/ 1.3%) 2.0%* 3 Aggregate (17 professions) 24.1% (+/ 0.2%) 24.7% (+/ 0.2%) 0.6%*** Notes: SE = standard error. *significant at p<0.05. **significant at p<0.01. ***significant at p< Source: Statistics Canada (2011). professional stakeholders to expand the number of physicians practising in Ontario. In other provinces, physician-supply concerns have prompted the introduction of alternative routes to licensing, such as practice-ready assessment, which are not available in Ontario Disparity Measures: Ontario and the Rest of Canada Immigrant match rates vary across professions, and are heavily influenced by labour market supply and demand. The same is true of match rates for the Canadian born and educated. In order to partially control for labour market factors and to better understand the disadvantage experienced by immigrants, we subtract the match rate for internationally educated immigrants from the match rate for the Canadian born and educated. 1 This we call the disparity measure. Table 2 shows that, across Canada, excluding Ontario, there is a significant range in disparity measures across professions. For dentists, there is a 55.8 percent disparity gap between the 30.7 percent match rate for internationally educated immigrants and the 86.5 percent match rate for the Canadian born and educated. For chiropractors, the corresponding disparity measure is only 2.9 percent. Both immigrant source countries and licensing practices influence disparity. For instance, the majority of immigrant chiropractors complete their professional education in the United States (CCO 2011). Because Canada and the United States both belong to an international accreditation system, US-educated chiropractors face few barriers. 2 For dentistry, the range of immigrant source countries is broader. Historically, most immigrant dentists have had to compete for advanced standing positions and to complete two years of professional education in a Canadian dentistry program an expensive and time-consuming proposition. While the National Dental Examining Board of Canada now offers a series of three assessments as an alternative route to licensing, this route was not available to immigrants until Like the ROC, Ontario shows a wide range in disparity measures. Ontario disparity measures are equal or lower than the ROC average for 13 of 17 professions. Furthermore, the aggregate disparity measure across the 17 professions is a statistically significant 2.6 percent lower for Ontario than for the ROC. In other words, internationally educated immigrants experience less disadvantage when seeking to practise their profession in Ontario than they do in the ROC. doi: /cpp Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015

5 S32 Augustine Table 2: Employment Match Rates by Immigration Status and Place of Education, Ontario and Rest of Canada, 2011 Professions Ontario Rest of Canada (ROC) Difference in Disparity Canadian Born and Educated Internationally Educated Immigrant Disparity Measure Canadian Born and Educated Internationally Educated Immigrant Disparity Measure ON ROC ON =< ROC Match Rate SE (+/ ) Match Rate SE (+/ ) Disparity SE (+/ ) Match Rate SE (+/ ) Match Rate SE (+/ ) Disparity SE (+/ ) Architects 44.7% 0.7% 26.4% 0.6% 18.4% 1.0% 65.3% 0.5% 26.0% 0.7% 39.2% 0.9% 20.8%*** 3 Accountants 50.5% 0.3% 26.2% 0.3% 24.3% 0.4% 52.3% 0.2% 23.1% 0.3% 29.2% 0.4% 4.9%*** 3 Chiropractors 79.8% 0.9% 67.6% 3.4% 12.2% 3.6% 81.0% 0.9% 78.0% 2.9% 2.9% 3.0% 9.3%* Dentists 89.5% 0.5% 34.1% 1.0% 55.4% 1.1% 86.5% 0.4% 30.7% 1.0% 55.8% 1.1% 0.4% 3 Dietitians 70.2% 1.6% 26.7% 2.9% 43.6% 3.3% 58.8% 1.1% 10.8% 1.7% 48.0% 2.0% 4.4% 3 Engineers 39.0% 0.2% 20.3% 0.1% 18.7% 0.2% 48.3% 0.1% 22.2% 0.1% 26.1% 0.2% 7.4%*** 3 Lawyers 65.0% 0.3% 14.3% 0.4% 50.7% 0.5% 65.1% 0.2% 13.3% 0.4% 51.8% 0.4% 1.1% 3 Occupational therapists 76.8% 0.7% 69.8% 2.6% 6.9% 2.7% 78.4% 0.5% 64.9% 2.5% 13.5% 2.5% 6.6% 3 Optometrists 93.1% 0.8% 47.3% 3.0% 45.9% 3.1% 92.2% 0.6% 57.4% 3.2% 34.7% 3.3% 11.2%* Pharmacists 80.9% 0.6% 50.7% 0.7% 30.2% 0.9% 85.1% 0.3% 34.4% 0.8% 50.7% 0.9% 20.5%*** 3 Physicians 85.5% 0.3% 36.7% 0.5% 48.7% 0.6% 86.1% 0.2% 54.6% 0.5% 31.5% 0.5% 17.2%*** Physiotherapists 79.8% 0.6% 40.7% 1.2% 39.1% 1.4% 80.1% 0.4% 38.1% 1.2% 42.1% 1.2% 3.0% 3 Registered nurses 71.2% 0.3% 53.6% 0.5% 17.6% 0.6% 75.8% 0.2% 45.3% 0.4% 30.5% 0.5% 12.9%*** 3 Teachers 66.5% 0.1% 25.3% 0.3% 41.2% 0.3% 60.1% 0.1% 17.5% 0.3% 42.6% 0.3% 1.4%** 3 Veterinarians 82.3% 0.7% 26.0% 1.4% 56.3% 1.6% 80.9% 0.6% 36.8% 1.4% 44.0% 1.6% 12.3%*** Engineering technologists Medical laboratory technologists 17.6% 0.1% 11.4% 0.3% 6.2% 0.3% 24.2% 0.1% 11.3% 0.3% 12.9% 0.3% 6.7%*** % 0.6% 16.6% 0.7% 27.4% 0.9% 43.4% 0.4% 14.6% 0.7% 28.8% 0.8% 1.4% 3 Aggregate (17 professions) 51.5% 0.1% 24.1% 0.1% 27.3% 0.1% 54.7% 0.1% 24.7% 0.1% 29.9% 0.1% 2.6%*** 3 Notes: ON = Ontario. *significant at p<0.05. **significant at p<0.01. ***significant at p< Source: Statistics Canada (2006, 2011). Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015 doi: /cpp

6 Employment Match Rates in the Regulated Professions: Trends and Policy Implications S33 For two of the largest professions engineering and nursing the difference in disparity measures is greater than 5 percent. The Ontario engineering and nursing professions, with large numbers of internationally educated applicants, were early innovators in alternative assessment and bridging. While inequities persist, the difference between disparity measures for Ontario and the ROC suggest that alternate routes to licensing do have a positive impact. Changes in Disparity: Provincial Comparisons Fair access legislation and related interventions aim to narrow the gap in licensing and employment outcomes between internationally educated immigrants and their Canadian-born and -educated counterparts, so that any remaining divergence reflects true differences in qualifications and not systemic barriers to international qualification recognition. Table 3 presents 2006 and 2011 disparity measures for Ontario and five other provinces. Three of these provinces Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and Quebec introduced fair access measures two or more years after Ontario did so in Alberta and British Columbia help illustrate labour market impacts, having maintained strong labour market conditions even after the onset of the recession in Between 2006 and 2011, the only provinces where match rate disparity decreases by more than 1 percent are Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. The Ontario disparity measure decreases from 28.6 percent in 2006 to 27.3 percent in Meanwhile, the Quebec disparity measure decreases from 40.6 percent to 38.6 percent, and the BC figure from 41.7 percent to 40.1 percent. Disparity remains stable for Alberta, and increases for Nova Scotia and Manitoba. Table 3: Match Rate Disparity by Province, Aggregated for 17 Professions, 2006 and 2011 Province Change Nova Scotia 19.1% 22.7% 3.5%* Quebec 40.6% 38.6% 2.0%*** Ontario 28.6% 27.3% 1.2%*** Manitoba 38.4% 43.6% 5.2%*** Alberta 31.7% 31.5% 0.2% British Columbia 41.7% 40.1% 1.6%*** Notes: Disparity = (match rate Can. born and educated) (match rate internationally educated immigrant). *significant at p<0.05. **significant at p<0.01. ***significant at p< Source: Statistics Canada (2006, 2011). As noted by Zietsma (2010), selection criteria, the mix of fields of study, and the distribution of immigrants by period of landing can all influence provincial differences in immigrant match rates. In Zietsma s study, Quebec had the lowest immigrant match rate and the highest proportion of landings after Conversely, British Columbia experienced a decline in landings of economic immigrants between 2006 and 2011, at the same time that the province increased its share of national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (British Columbia Immigration Task Force 2012). A tighter labour market and lower numbers of recent arrivals are likely important factors contributing to the reduced disparity measure for British Columbia in Both labour market conditions and fair access interventions have an important impact on disparity trends. Ontario and Quebec each have a commissioner mandated to work with regulators to improve fair access to the regulated professions. Ontario was the first province to pass fair access legislation (2006) and to appoint a Fairness Commissioner (2007). Quebec passed legislation providing for a Commissioner for Complaints only in 2009, but was able to build upon the existing structure of the Office of the Professions. Both provinces experienced a decline in disparity between 2006 and While Manitoba and Nova Scotia also introduced fair access legislation during this period, both have smaller offices, and the Nova Scotia Review Officer did not begin her work until after the 2011 National Household Survey. Nova Scotia, as a weaker economy, was hard hit by the recession. In this context, longer recovery times for immigrants may help explain the increased disparity measure in While Manitoba weathered the recession relatively well, research shows that new labour market participants struggled, including newly arrived immigrants. Meanwhile, the population of new arrivals grew considerably: 2011 marked the highest immigration flow to Manitoba since 1946 (Baragar 2011). In Manitoba, the composition of new arrivals also shifted. Between 2009 and 2011, 70 percent of landed immigrants arrived with post-secondary education, compared to only 30 percent between 2006 and 2009 (OMFC 2010, 2012). This dramatic increase in the supply of educated labour, with the resulting increase in competition among immigrants for available jobs, may help explain the disproportionate drop in match rate for internationally educated immigrants that is behind the increased disparity measure for Manitoba in Provinces without major urban centres present both challenges and opportunities for immigrant professionals. Skills shortages mean healthy labour market demand and efforts to recruit, integrate, and retain immigrant workers. Recruitment plays a major role in determining who comes to the province, making for a strong fit between arrivals and labour market conditions. Not surprisingly, Nova Scotia has the lowest disparity measures of the six provinces examined here, at 19.1 percent in 2006 and 22.7 percent doi: /cpp Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015

7 S34 Augustine in It also has the highest overall match rate for immigrants who completed their professional education outside of Canada. In 2011, 38.3 percent of Nova Scotia s internationally educated immigrants were working in their field, compared to 24.1 percent in Ontario. These findings suggest that both fair access intervention and the level of labour market competition may influence disparity measures. Fair access interventions can increase the chances of becoming licensed, but do not guarantee a job. Meanwhile, labour market demand creates incentive for employers and other stakeholders to maximize the skills of immigrants. In the absence of strong labour market conditions, other interventions are needed to improve immigrant outcomes. Ontario: A Fair Access Case Study Closer examination of the Ontario data helps deepen our understanding of the impact of fair access interventions and labour market conditions. This section reviews the employment match data for Ontario, and compares progress in licensing to progress in employment. It also contrasts the findings for health professions, where employment may be limited by efforts to restrain public spending, to those for non-health professions, where market forces tend to play a stronger role in job creation. While the preceding section examines a subset of 17 professions that are regulated across Canada, the Ontario case study presents data for all 37 professions governed by Table 4: Education Leading to a Regulated Profession, Ontario, 2011 Immigrant Status Education inside Canada Education outside Canada Total Canadian born 522,460 31, ,540 Immigrant 149, , ,005 Total 672, , ,545 Source: Statistics Canada (2011). Table 5: Ontario Match Rates by Immigration Status and Place of Education, 2011 Ontario s fair access legislation as of This increases the relevance of the findings for future interventions in Ontario. Education in a Regulated Profession Ontario leads the country in attracting immigrants educated in a regulated profession. As shown in Table 4, just over 354,000 employed immigrants residing in Ontario in 2011 were educated in a regulated profession, of whom 42.3 percent had received their highest level of education in Canada. This number includes immigrants who arrived as children, as well as immigrants who arrived as adults and upgraded their education in Canada. Over 204,000 immigrants had completed their education outside Canada. Over 31,000 Canadians had completed their professional studies outside Canada, with the largest numbers concentrated in architecture, chiropractic, engineering, law, medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and teaching. Between 2006 and 2011, growth in this group was strongest for medicine, at 93 percent. Employment Match Rates Table 5 shows how match rates for 2011 vary substantially based on immigration status and place of education: 24.1 percent of immigrants who studied outside Canada to work in one of Ontario s regulated professions were employed in that profession, compared to 51.0 percent of their Canadian-born and -educated counterparts. Education inside Canada increased the match rate for immigrants, while education outside Canada increased the match rate for the Canadian born. Major differences between these two groups are language of education and official language fluency. Canadians studying abroad will be more likely to study in English and be fluent in English. The finding of better match rates for this group thus supports previous research showing that official language ability mediates return on educational skills in the labour market (Bonikowska, Green, and Riddell 2008; Goldmann, Sweetman, and Warman 2011). From a more critical perspective, this finding also draws attention to the contested role and quality of language testing in occupational regulation, as well as a documented recognition Immigrant Status Education inside Canada Education outside Canada Total Match Rate SE (+/ ) Match Rate SE (+/ ) Match Rate SE (+/ ) Canadian born 51.0% 0.1% 62.5% 0.5% 51.7% 0.1% Immigrant 43.7% 0.3% 24.1% 0.2% 32.4% 0.2% Total 49.4% 0.1% 29.2% 0.2% 44.2% 0.1% Note: SE = standard error. Source: Statistics Canada (2011). Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015 doi: /cpp

8 Employment Match Rates in the Regulated Professions: Trends and Policy Implications S35 bias in favour of the United States and English-speaking Commonwealth countries (Hawthorne 2012; OFC 2013a). Trends in employment match rates are revealing. Between 2006 and 2011, there was no statistically significant change in the aggregate match rate for the Canadian born and educated. This suggests that professional level employment was largely resilient in the face of the 2008 recession. Even more encouraging, as shown in Table 6, internationally educated professionals experienced a small improvement in match rates between 2006 and Internationally educated immigrants experienced a statistically significant 1.0 percent increase in match rate from 23.1 percent in 2006 to 24.1 percent in 2011, a difference roughly equivalent to 2000 jobs. Canadians who studied abroad also experienced a 1.0 percent increase, from 61.5 percent in 2006 to 62.5 percent in These findings suggest that internationally educated applicants were better placed to compete for jobs in 2011 than in 2006, despite challenging labour market conditions. Progress in Licensing versus Progress in Employment Clearly, licensed professionals are better placed to compete for jobs in their field. For some professions, licensing is mandatory. For others, licensing grants the right to use a professional title and facilitates qualifications recognition by employers. Data collected from Ontario regulators by the Office of the Fairness Commissioner show an increase in the licensing of internationally educated applicants over the five-year period corresponding to this study. Over this period, the number of internationally educated license holders grew by a dramatic 22.7 percent, compared to a 13.7 percent growth in total license holders. Unfortunately, neither the Statistics Canada data nor the OFC database allow for the calculation of licensing rates. However, juxtaposing numbers drawn from the two data sets allows us to compare the representation of the internationally educated both Canadian- and Table 6: Ontario Match Rates by Immigration Status and Place of Education, 2006 and 2011 foreign-born among the total populations of those educated, employed, and licensed in a regulated profession in Ontario. For data availability reasons and to account for the lag time involved in licensing, we use licensing data for 2007 and 2012, and education and employment data for 2006 and Calculations are based on the 27 professions for which complete licensing data are available for In , the internationally educated account for 33.4 percent of all those educated in a regulated profession, 20.6 percent of all those employed in a regulated profession, and 16.1 percent of all those licensed in a regulated profession in Ontario. In other words, the internationally educated suffer a representation gap of 12.8 percent for employment and 17.3 percent for licensing. Large numbers of immigrant engineers who can work in their field without a license help to make the gap narrower for employment than for licensing. As Figure 1 illustrates, the five-year trend shows greater improvements in licensing than in employment. The number of internationally educated license holders grows at roughly twice the rate of growth for those internationally educated and employed in a regulated profession (22.7 percent versus 11.5 percent). As a result, the representation gap for licensing shrinks considerably, from 17.3 percent to 14.6 percent. Over the same time period, the representation gap for employment narrows only slightly, from 12.8 percent to 12.4 percent. As will be discussed later, these findings have important policy implications. They suggest that fair access work has increased numbers of internationally educated license holders and narrowed the representation gap for licensing. They also show that more work is needed: there continues to be a representation gap for both licensing and employment, and progress in employment has not kept pace with progress in licensing. Fair licensing is critical, but not enough to overcome the well-documented employment barriers for immigrant professionals: from employer screening practices that disadvantage candidates with foreign-sounding names and international Immigrant Status Place of Education Change Match Rate SE (+/ ) Match Rate SE (+/ ) Canadian born Inside Canada 51.0% 0.1% 51.0% 0.1% 0.0% Outside Canada 61.5% 0.6% 62.5% 0.5% 1.0%* Immigrant Inside Canada 44.0% 0.3% 43.7% 0.3% 0.3% Outside Canada 23.1% 0.2% 24.1% 0.2% 1.0%*** Notes: SE = standard error. *significant at p<0.05. **significant at p<0.01. ***significant at p< Source: Statistics Canada (2006, 2011). doi: /cpp Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015

9 S36 Augustine Licensed in a Regulated Profession % Licensed in a Regulated Profession % Employed in a Regulated Profession 2011 Employed in a Regulated Profession % 12.8% Representation Representation Gap Educated in a Regulated Profession 2011 Educated in a Regulated Profession 2006 Figure 1: Representation of the Internationally Educated in Ontario, and Sources: Statistics Canada (2006, 2011); OFC (2008, 2012). work experience, to immigrant challenges with language fluency (OHRC 2013; Oreopoulos and Dechief 2011; Picot and Sweetman 2012; PROMPT 2004). Other kinds of interventions are needed to address hiring and retention barriers, while increasing support for occupation specific language training and professional networking. Immigrant Employment Outcomes in Health and Non-health Professions Comparing the data for health and non-health professions helps nuance the relationship between licensing and employment. For health professions, this relationship is a very close one. Over 85 percent of Canadian-born and -educated doctors, dentists, and optometrists work in their field. For non-health professions, the situation is somewhat different. Among the Canadian born and educated, only 39.0 percent of engineers and 50.5 percent of accountants work directly in their field. However, this does not necessarily indicate higher levels of underemployment. Many unmatched professionals work in managerial or specialist roles commensurate with their education. According to the 2011 NHS data, 170,740 internationally educated immigrants were educated in a non-health profession, compared to 33,565 who were educated in a health profession. However, match rates were consistently higher for health than for non-health professions. Among immigrants who studied outside Canada, health professionals had match rates roughly twice those of non-health professionals. For further detail on 2011 match rates for 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% all professions, see online Appendix 3 at org/ /cpp As Table 7 illustrates, match rate trends were different for health and non-health professions. Between 2006 and 2011, match rates for internationally educated immigrants tended to increase for non-health professions and decrease for health professions. Among professions corresponding to the top ten fields of study for internationally educated immigrants in 2011, five showed a statistically significant change in match rate between 2006 and The accounting, engineering, and legal professions experienced an increase in immigrant match rates, while the nursing and medical professions experienced a decrease. On aggregate, the top non-health professions showed a 1.8 percent increase in match rate, compared to a 3.8 percent decrease for health professions. While many factors are at play, government cost containment may help to explain declining immigrant match rates in health professions. Most health jobs are funded directly or indirectly by public money. With health care costs rising rapidly, one of the government s primary cost containment levers is influencing the number of health care workers, especially physicians (Owusu 2014). Canada slowed health care spending in 2011, when growth dropped to less than 1 percent after a growth phase averaging 4.3 percent per year from 1996 to 2010 (CIHI 2014). In this context, health care jobs and post-graduate medical training could not keep pace with growth in the number of candidates, with immigrants suffering the greatest impact. Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015 doi: /cpp

10 Employment Match Rates in the Regulated Professions: Trends and Policy Implications S37 Table 7: Top Ten Fields of Study for Internationally Educated Immigrants, Ontario, 2011 Field of Study Internationally Educated Immigrants Employment Match Rate Change Since 2006 Engineer 95, % +1.9%*** Accountant 20, % +2.0%*** Teacher 19, % 0.3% Engineering technologist / technician 15, % +0.5% Registered nurse 8, % 6.8%*** Physician 8, % 9.8%*** Lawyer 6, % +3.1%*** Pharmacist 5, % 0.9% Architect 5, % 0.1% Medical laboratory technologist 3, % 0.1% Total top health 25, % 3.8%*** Total top non-health 162, % 1.8%*** Total top ten fields of study 188, % +1.3%*** Total all regulated professions 204, % +1.1%*** Notes: *significant at p<0.05. **significant at p<0.01. ***significant at p< Source: Statistics Canada (2006, 2011). Conversely, non-health jobs with the exception of teaching and social work are largely generated by the private sector and less impacted by government budgets. While teaching and social work are large professions, immigrants are a small percentage of practitioners. By way of contrast, engineers account for about half of all Ontario immigrants educated in a regulated profession. Between 2006 and 2011, immigrant engineers competed in a relatively healthy labour market. While jobs in manufacturing declined, jobs in construction and related industries grew, contributing to an overall increase in engineering employment (Prism 2012). Immigrant engineers also benefited from decreased competition as immigration numbers declined after 2006, and engineering dropped from the list of priority occupations for immigration purposes in 2010 (OFC 2013a; Prism 2012). This has meant gradual recovery from the crisis of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when high numbers of computer science and engineering graduates arrived in Canada only to be faced with the information technology (IT) downturn (Picot and Hou 2009). Under fair access legislation, regulators are urged to license all qualified applicants, independent of labour market conditions. However, supply-and-demand considerations play an important role in the decisions of key stakeholders that control access to training and work experience opportunities required for licensing from health officials to engineering employers. Complex solutions are required to create the labour market conditions for immigrant success, and to engage all relevant stakeholders in supporting equity as much as their fiscal bottom line. Profession-Specific Data: Employment Match Rates and Alternative Occupations The search for such solutions has led to considerable policy interest in improving both foreign qualification recognition and routes to alternative careers, to maximize the expertise of internationally educated professionals. Under the auspices of the Pan-Canadian Framework, a federal-provincial-territorial working group commissioned research on alternative careers and held a national roundtable to discuss best practices (FQRWG 2014; Lim 2013). Building on this work, the FLMM emphasized alternative career programming in the Action Plan for Better Foreign Qualification Recognition (2014b) announced on 21 November 2014 (2014a). In its ideal formulation, alternative careers allow internationally educated professionals to work at their skill level in a related occupation. In reality, many immigrants work considerably below their skill level. The following section discusses the relevant data for five professions engineering, accounting, teaching, nursing, and medicine. Of regulated professions that require university-level education, these are the five most prevalent fields of study for immigrants in Ontario. Engineering In 2011, the Ontario match rate for immigrants who had completed a university-level engineering program outside Canada was 20.3 percent, just over half the match rate for the Canadian born and educated (39.0 percent); 83 percent doi: /cpp Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015

11 S38 Augustine Immigrants Educated outside Canada Canadian Born and Educated Legend NOC C, 19.5% NOC D, 7.1% NOC O, 16.7% NOC B, 20.5% NOC C, 6.3% NOC D, 2.8% NOC O, 35.7% NOC O Management NOC A Professional NOC B Skilled/Technical NOC B, 31.4% NOC A, 25.3% Figure 2: Employment Skill Level for Unmatched Engineers in Ontario, 2011 Note: NOC = National Occupation Classification. Source: Statistics Canada (2011). reported at least an undergraduate degree the standard requirement for licensing in Ontario. While Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) finds gaps in many of these international programs, there is no conclusive evidence to show that these gaps cannot be bridged. It is concerning, therefore, to find that almost 80 percent of university-educated immigrant engineers were working in jobs outside their field in The majority worked below their skill level, as measured by the National Occupation Classification (NOC) code corresponding to their current job (see Figure 2). In fact, only 42.0 percent of unmatched immigrant engineers worked at or above their skill level, compared to 70.4 percent of the Canadian born and educated. Unmatched domestic engineers were considerably more likely to work as managers or senior managers, while large numbers of unmatched immigrant NOC A, 34.7% Table 8: Top Ten Alternative Occupations for Unmatched Engineers, Ontario, 2011 Canadian Born and Educated 1. Engineering manager 2. Software engineer 3. Information systems analyst 4. Manufacturing manager 5. Computer programmer 6. Construction manager 7. Senior manager utilities and transportation 8. Senior manager business services 9. Computer / information systems manager 10. Post-secondary teacher / researcher NOC C Clerical NOC D Labour engineers found themselves working in low-skill positions such as janitor, sales clerk, or truck driver, as Table 8 illustrates. Accounting Immigrant accountants experienced marginally better match rates than immigrant engineers. In 2011, the Ontario match rate for internationally educated immigrant accountants was 26.2 percent, an encouraging increase of 2.0 percent over 2006, but still far below the 50.5 percent match rate for the Canadian born and educated. In Ontario, immigrants may apply for certification as a Certified General Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, or Chartered Professional Accountant. Collectively, the Ontario regulators authorized to grant these three designations reported 81,946 members in 2013, of which 7.6 percent were educated outside Canada and the United States (CGAO 2013; CMAO 2013; CPAO 2013). 4 Foreign Born and Educated 1. Information systems analyst 2. Computer programmer 3. Software engineer 4. Retail manager 5. Retail salesperson 6. Truck driver 7. Janitor / superintendent 8. Manufacturing manager 9. Electrical engineering technologist 10. Computer / information systems manager Source: Statistics Canada (2011). Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015 doi: /cpp

12 Employment Match Rates in the Regulated Professions: Trends and Policy Implications S39 Immigrants Educated outside Canada Canadian Born and Educated Legend NOC C, 36.7% NOC D, 10.6% NOC O, 18.0% NOC A, 15.8% NOC B, 13.2% NOC C, 10.4% NOC D, 1.1% NOC O, 49.9% NOC O Management NOC A Professional NOC B Skilled/Technical NOC C Clerical NOC B, 19.0% NOC A, 25.4% Figure 3: Employment Skill Level for Unmatched Accountants in Ontario, 2011 Note: NOC = National Occupation Classification. Source: Statistics Canada (2011). Poor representation of internationally educated members among accounting designation holders is reflected in large numbers of immigrant accountants working in jobs outside their field, with most working below their skill level. In 2011, as shown in Figure 3, only 33.7 percent were working at or above their skill level, compared to 75.2 percent of the Canadian born and educated. Unmatched accountants, both domestic and international graduates, frequently worked in related roles as financial analysts, bookkeepers, and accounting clerks. Immigrant accountants may be open to consider these roles as alternative careers, since they clearly require financial skills and fall within the normal range of positions held by their Canadian-born and -educated counterparts. In other areas, as shown in Table 9, unmatched occupations show more of a divergence, with the Canadian born Table 9: Top Ten Alternative Occupations for Unmatched Accountants, Ontario, 2011 Canadian Born and Educated 1. Financial manager 2. Financial / investment analyst 3. Senior manager business services 4. Accounting clerk 5. Financial officer 6. Bookkeeper 7. Senior manager utilities and transportation 8. Senior manager trade and other 9. Banking / investment manager 10. Business services professional NOC D Labour and educated much more likely to work in senior management, while immigrants were more concentrated in low-skill occupations such as cashiers and food service workers. Teaching The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) is the second largest regulator in Ontario, reporting 238,201 members in Over 16,000 or 6.8 percent were educated outside Canada and the United States (OCT 2013). Based on 2011 NHS data, internationally educated immigrant teachers tend to have higher levels of education, with 34 percent holding a master s degree. However, only 25.3 percent of university-educated immigrant teachers were employed in their field, compared to 66.5 percent of the Canadian born and educated. 5 Both groups experienced a decline in match rates between 2006 and Foreign Born and Educated 1. Accounting clerk 2. Bookkeeper 3. Financial manager 4. Financial / investment analyst 5. Retail salesperson 6. Financial officer 7. Office clerk 8. Retail trade manager 9. Cashier 10. Food service worker Source: Statistics Canada doi: /cpp Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015

13 S40 Augustine Immigrants Educated outside Canada Canadian Born and Educated Legend NOC D, 13.1% NOC O, 11.6% NOC A, 19.6% NOC C, 18.5% NOC D, 3.6% NOC O, 24.2% NOC O Management NOC A Professional NOC B Skilled/Technical NOC C, 31.7% NOC B, 24.1% NOC B, 23.1% Figure 4: Employment Skill Level for Unmatched Teachers in Ontario, 2011 Note: NOC = National Occupation Classification. Source: Statistics Canada (2011). As Figure 4 illustrates, the majority of unmatched domestic graduates were working in occupations at the professional or managerial level (54.9 percent). In comparison, only 31.1 percent of the immigrant group were working at or above their skill level, with the majority underemployed. As Table 10 shows, domestic graduates were much more likely than their immigrant counterparts to hold high profile positions such as principal or post-secondary instructor. While some immigrant teachers also hold these roles, additional support is needed to improve representation in the higher echelons of the education system. This means equity initiatives to facilitate career advancement, and not simply programs that support immigrants to explore alternatives to teaching. For those who do choose to explore a different path, alternative career supports are needed to facilitate Table 10: Top Ten Alternative Occupations for Unmatched Teachers, Ontario, 2011 Canadian Born and Educated 1. Principal 2. College instructor 3. Education policy researcher 4. Retail salesperson 5. University professor 6. Early childhood educator 7. Educational counsellor 8. Office clerk 9. Teacher assistant 10. Administrative officer NOC A, 30.7% NOC C Clerical NOC D Labour successful transitions to education-related roles such as early childhood educator or teacher assistant, reducing current concentrations in unrelated and low-skilled positions such as office clerk, cleaner, and babysitter. Nursing Nursing is Ontario s largest health care profession. In 2013, the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) reported over 165,000 members, with 9.8 percent educated outside North America (CNO 2013). The 2011 NHS data show higher levels of education among internationally educated immigrant nurses than their domestic counterparts. Nevertheless, match rates for university educated immigrant nurses were substantially lower than for the Canadian born and educated (53.6 percent versus 71.2 percent). 6 Creating further cause Foreign Born and Educated 1. Early childhood educator 2. Retail salesperson 3. College instructor 4. Office clerk 5. Retail trade manager 6. Teacher assistant 7. Administrative officer 8. Cleaner 9. Principal 10. Babysitter / nanny Source: Statistics Canada Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de politiques, August / août 2015 doi: /cpp