Hiring Immigrants instead of " our own people "

[promac]

Citizenship and Immigration Canada launches online consultation on immigration levels and mix - open till Sept 19, 2011:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/consultations/index.asp

[rutakin]

For 25 years in his native India, Balvinder Singh Ahuja worked as a pediatrician, treating thousands of children, saving many lives.
For the past six months in Toronto, however, Ahuja has been learning to drive a truck, convinced it was too difficult a process to practise as a foreign-trained doctor in Canada.
But his experience as a veteran physician kicked into high gear Saturday when he performed an emergency delivery on an Air India flight from New Delhi to Toronto, turning a passenger cabin into a birthing room within minutes and improvising with makeshift instruments.
The baby, a girl, was born 45 minutes later.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/...midflight?bn=1

[unL33T]

There are certain jobs people here don't want or don't want enough to work at any kind of quality level for. My farming uncles are routinely talking about how they prefer to hire immigrants to the locals because the immigrants work harder and, more importantly, actually show up for work. Most local people they hire will either quit before the end of the season, randomly stop showing up, show up completely blitzed, or just miss half their work days.

[rutakin]

There are certain jobs people here don't want or don't want enough to work at any kind of quality level for. My farming uncles are routinely talking about how they prefer to hire immigrants to the locals because the immigrants work harder and, more importantly, actually show up for work. Most local people they hire will either quit before the end of the season, randomly stop showing up, show up completely blitzed, or just miss half their work days.

That's like Americans complaining about undocumented workers and illegals taking their jobs. But without them they'll have some messy yards, pools, more expensive clothing etc...

[MadPoet]

Well, I certainly hope that they are better at doctoring than they are at driving. Unless the goal is to build up a huge number of injuries with their cabs, then be allowed to practise medicine to clear the backlog.
Seriously, the cab-driving-doctor has become a cliche. Has anyone here ever personally met such an individual? One who is fully qualified to practise but is held back only because of his/her immigrant status? Because I just spent the day at a Toronto hospital undergoing tests and every single person I dealt with was from somewhere else - Poland, Asia, India, Carribean - and every single one of them was exceedingly competent and professional. So I have trouble believing that the medical system in Ontario is actively blocking qualified people from working.
I'm the son (and brother) of immigrants, so I know a little of what people face when they arrive, especially 60 years ago. But one thing my parents did that no longer seems popular is they lined up jobs in their respective professions before they got here.

I know a couple doctors fully qualified and licensed in Canada yet unable to practice due to the lack of internship positions. Both doctors are applying along with other thousands of doctors on 2 or 3 positions few times a year/province whenever there is a opening. Going as north as NWT and Nunavut, places that many of us would never consider moving to, they still can't make it. Not to say that they do get rejected because they are immigrants (as in racism) but only immigrant doctors need to practice under supervision for a year in a never available internship positions made specifically for international MDs. So after the extremely difficult exams and finally meeting Canadian standards that took 3 years, they both sit on the burner for additional 5 and 7 years till now. That is exactly what's causing the taxi cab physician cliche. My doctor friends work in a gas station though. Believe it or not, the CMA is blocking Canadian QUALIFIED MDs to practice in Canada, actively or not, the result is the same. They are protecting their trade with controlling the supply despite the increased demand. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.

Another example, my cousin and her husband have been surgeons in England for over 15 years, and they are still considered IMDs and will have to go through that painful process if they choose to come here. They will be treated the same treatment of my other cousin who practiced in Egypt for 4 years as a GP. Does this make any sense?

Google it and you will find stories of many doctors ending up going to the USA after waiting here almost a decade. Then we complain of doctors shortage.