Iranian immigrants arriving
in Vancouver with professional qualifications are finding it
extremely difficult to find work in their chosen fields due to
Canada’s certification laws, an issue that’s increasing in
importance as more Iranians choose Canada for a better life.
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| Iranians form the largest number of applicants
for landed immigrant status of all Middle Eastern and
African countries. Immigration Canada figures show that
7,073 Iranians became permanent residents in 2006, a steep
climb from 5,502 in 2005. Some 30,000 Iranians live the
Vancouver area, mostly in North and West Vancouver.
Community Response
Iranian community leader Behshad
Hastibakhsh described how accredited Iranian doctors, lawyers,
accountants and engineers arriving in Canada discovered that they
had to re-qualify for work in a process that can take over a year.
To support themselves, many immigrants are forced to work as
taxi drivers or in shops and restaurants doing minimum wage jobs.
Hastibakhsh said the integration process was “time consuming.”
He has been living in Vancouver since 1990, when he arrived aged
20 with his family.
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North Vancouver, a new home for many Iranians.
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Nonetheless, Hastibakhsh said “Canada is an immigrant
friendly country,” praising its inclusive, multicultural values.
The immigrants hardest hit by the certification regulations are
those with families to support, along with students from Iran who,
like many others, are mired in debts of up to $30,000 in
Canada’s most expensive city.
With newly arrived professionals unable to work in their fields
before re-certification, not only are they stuck in low paying
jobs, but Hastibakhsh said Vancouver is losing out on skilled
workers who could fill BC’s labour shortage.
Ayda’s Journey
Ayda Toussi is one such migrant. She landed in Vancouver on
June 26, 2006, with husband Keivan Emami and their daughter, from Mashhad,
in eastern Iran.
She said, “when I was in Iran I had a Bachelor Degree in the
field of Mathematics and Accounting, and I have eight years
experience.” She had worked in Iran’s Finance Ministry before
emigrating.
In Vancouver, Toussi’s lack of Canadian qualifications or
experience meant she could only work for minimum wage until she
retrained as an accountant, so she worked for a year in an Iranian
bakery before being laid off.
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Behshad Hastibakhsh
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“I worked just as a cashier and a dishwasher, it was very
hard working,” said Toussi of her job. She did it to support her
daughter, she added. “Lots of people like me have the same
problem.”
After getting laid off, Toussi enrolled in an accounting course
at Vancouver Community College and
has not yet finished.
While Toussi was still retraining, her husband Emami met the
certification requirements and now works as a computer programmer
for the CGTV Games company in downtown Vancouver.
Toussi, like many of the immigrants described by Hastibakhsh,
sees the certification progress as pointless. She said that
“lots of people, maybe more than 90 per cent, are educated in
their country,” before immigrating to Canada.
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