Ontario Human Rights Commission rules that requiring Canadian experience is often discrimination.
Danilo Barba, Multimedia Reporter
“The biggest barrier I have faced is companies’ requirement for Canadian experience,” says Githin Mathew, a postgraduate student in International Business Management at George Brown College. Photo: Danilo Barba/The Dialog
Canada was the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy in 1971. But more than 40 years later, international students and immigrants still turn to unpaid work such as volunteering, internships or low-skilled ‘survival jobs’ to meet the requirements for Canadian experience.
After consulting with newcomers to Canada in the last 10 years, Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) found that many of them end up in jobs that do not correspond to their education, skills or experience. Nevertheless, OHRC’s new policy launched on July 15 states employers need to ask all about a job applicant’s previous work, however where they got their experience should not matter.
“Ontario attracts highly-skilled immigrants from all over the world,” commented OHRC’s chief commissioner Barbara Hall. “But if they have to meet a requirement for Canadian experience, they can’t get a job without Canadian experience and they can’t get experience without a job. In most cases, that is discrimination under Ontario’s Human Rights Code.”
Githin Mathew, a postgraduate student in International Business Management at George Brown College (GBC), has been facing this situation since he came from India in January. “The biggest barrier I have faced is companies’ requirement for Canadian experience,” Mathew said. “We as students hope to get experience by working with a Canadian company, and the companies intend to employ students only if they have Canadian experience.”
Harmeet Singh Kohli, professor at GBC’s centre for business says, “if the experience acquired abroad is relevant to domestic, political, economical and cultural environment, then there is no reason for the employer not to take it into account; but that it is still an employer’s decision.”
With the new policy, employers are advised to be more specific on their ads and job postings than just requiring Canadian experience. Examples include: education, independent study, on-the-job training and volunteering. Meanwhile, there are positions where the skills demanded are in fact improved by international experience on the resume.
“It seems like discrimination to me. My line of work comprises international standard codes, procedures and software, so I would consider hiring skilled professionals independently of their country of origin in a selection,” said Geoff David Barr Watson, owner of creative agency The New Beat.
“My opinion is that foreigners may actually aggregate fresh knowledge to the company, and I believe that a new policy can definitely address the Canadian experience issue.” said Watson.
Bob Eichvald, manager of the career services at George Brown’s St. James campus said, “A lack of work experience can be a barrier for students when they are job searching. We encourage both domestic and international students to acquire work experience while completing their study programs.”
There are many ways to do this, which includes internships, co-ops, part-time jobs, summer jobs, volunteer programs and extra-curricular activities. “Any opportunity a student may have to gain experience in the employment market will make them a more desirable candidate to potential employers,” said GBC career advisor James Vandervoot.
