McGuinty Government Opening Doors for International Professionals
Helping Newcomers and Health Professionals Succeed in Ontario
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle (left), and Health and Long term Care Minister George Smitherman (right) officially open the new access and resource centre Global Experience Ontario, today at Ryerson University.
TORONTO, Dec.
18 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government is breaking down barriers for
international professionals to work in their field of expertise by
officially opening a one-stop resource and recruitment centre, Ontario
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle and Ontario Health and
Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman announced today.
Global Experience Ontario is a hub of resources
and support for newcomers to navigate through the complex system of
licensure and registration in Ontario. The centre also provides a home to
the government's HealthForceOntario Strategy to attract and retain health
care professionals to work in Ontario to provide greater access to health
care for patients.
"We've listened to newcomers who have said
that one of the major barriers they face is getting accurate and
accessible information about registration practices in regulated
professions," Colle said. "Global Experience Ontario is the
first centre of its kind in Ontario and a central link to vital newcomer
services across the province.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with the
Ministry of Citizenship and
Immigration to offer a single point of access for information for health
professionals looking for the advantages of working in Ontario and assist
internationally trained health professionals to apply their skills in our
province," said Smitherman.
Global Experience Ontario, an Access and Resource
Centre for the
Internationally Trained is part of the Fair Access to Regulated
Professions
Act, 2006. The first legislation of its kind in Canada, it will require
Ontario's regulated professions to ensure their licensing process is fair,
clear and open. Global Experience Ontario provides hands-on support
services in-person, by telephone or online, including:
- Links to education and assessment
programs; settlement agencies; and,
internships and mentoring
programs;
- Direction on standards for
professional qualifications; licensing and
registration processes;
referrals for training; and, alternative
professions that
complement skill-sets.
The facility also houses the HealthForceOntario
Recruitment Centre which showcases Ontario as an employer-of-choice for
practice-ready health professionals through strategic marketing and
advertising to target groups of health professionals, including a campaign
to repatriate the estimated 3,000 physicians who are registered to
practice in Ontario but who currently reside out of the province.
Other elements of the HealthForceOntario strategy
include:
- the creation of the
HealthForceOntario Access Centre for
Internationally Educated
Health Professionals, which provides
internationally educated
health professionals with access to ongoing
counselling and support,
and some tools for onsite assessment - the
information needed to be
successfully licensed to work in health care
in Ontario
- a comprehensive job website
(http://www.HealthForceOntario.ca) that
contains a job registry
that already has more than 1,000 postings for
doctors and nurses across
Ontario.
Today's announcement is a further example of how
the McGuinty government
is breaking down barriers for newcomers and continuing the strong growth
of
Ontario's economy. Other initiatives include:
- Establishing the first provincial
Internship for the Internationally
Trained. Administered by
Career Bridge, newcomers with a minimum of
three years international
work experience will be placed for six-
month paid assignments
within the Ontario Public Service and Crown
Agencies.
- Creating a Foreign Trained
Professionals Loans program of up to
$5,000 per person to
cover assessment, training and exam costs, in
partnership with the
Maytree Foundation.
- Investing more than $34 million in
more than 60 bridge training
projects to help
thousands of newcomers work in over 100 trades and
professions. These
programs create a bridge for newcomers to language
training, licensure and
work experience.
- Investing $20.4 million in
education and support that brings doctors,
nurses and other health
professionals working together in teams
- Guaranteeing that every nursing
graduate in Ontario is offered a
full-time job in the
province
- Creating four new health care provider roles in areas of
high need.
- Doubling the number of training and
assessment positions for
internationally educated
medical graduates.
- Investing $130 million annually on
programs to help newcomers upgrade their language
skills, settle and find work - more than any other
province in Canada.
Health and Long term Care Minister George Smitherman (left), and Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle (right) shake hands at the official opening of the new Global Experience Ontario/HealthForceOntario resource and access centre, today at Ryerson University.
