Helping newcomers speed up credentials to land jobs in their field: World Education Services

World Education Services is in the business of setting up immigrants to Canada for professional success.

As a not-for-profit social enterprise, WES helps educated newcomers gain credentials to work in their fields as quickly as possible. Shamira Madhany, managing director Canada and deputy executive director, says the organization serves as a “neutral broker” between licensing bodies, settlement services, post-secondary institutions, employers and government officials to ensure immigrants land jobs that are aligned with their experience and training.

Most people have heard the stories about trained doctors, engineers and nurses delivering pizzas or driving Uber. WES works to speed up the credentials process with evaluations and tools so that highly trained and educated newcomers can work in their profession – often in fields where a labour shortage exists.

“There has been progress. It has to be faster,” Madhany said, noting the various complicating factors that can delay the credentials process, such as jurisdictional issues between the federal government, provinces and territories, and regulators.

In order for us to remain competitive as a country and in order for us to win globally, we need to make sure that we basically leverage our human capital, who happen to be immigrants, who are highly skilled, whose skills are not being leveraged.

Shamira Madhany, Managing Director Canada and Deputy Executive Director, World Education Services

Since its launch nearly 50 years ago, WES has helped millions of people from more than 200 countries reach their professional goals. The organization identifies barriers and solutions, and advocates for good public policy to enable immigrants to fill jobs in much-needed areas such as health care or personal support work. 

Some of those policy objectives include pushing for a pan-Canadian group to coordinate work with the provinces, providing more tools for evaluation and expanding loan programs that cushion what can be a prohibitively costly credentials process.

“We really need to make sure the programs that are being developed and funded actually reduce licence barriers,” Madhany said.

WES also carries out extensive surveys and research and runs projects such as refugee roundtables and hiring events to match employers with workers. The organization also works to ensure Canadian employers outside of urban centres have access to the immigrant talent pool.

Madhany said some people hold stereotypes that asylum seekers and refugees come from camps with a backpack and little education or skills, when in fact the opposite is true. 

“This is giving them a chance, and they’re willing to go to any part of the country to get a job and start working,” she said. “They don’t want to be on social assistance, and they’re using their education and skills.”

WES also manages a $30-million Mariam Assefa Fund (named after WES’s founder), which promotes training, job-matching, business start-ups and advocates for policies to foster success in the workforce.

Madhany said it’s critical to help newcomers get a job in their field – or they may move on. She pointed to a recent report called “Leaky Bucket” which raises the red flag about the need not only to attract newcomers, but to retain them.

The report found that onward migration, where immigrants leave Canada for another country, has been steadily increasing since the 1980s and surged in 2017 and 2019. One driving factor is that the newcomer can’t find work that’s commensurate with their qualifications and experience, resulting in a career setback that could take years to make up and dissatisfaction with life in Canada.

Madhany said WES is aligned with the Coalition’s goals of maximizing human potential, improving living standards and boosting Canada’s economic position internationally.

“In order for us to remain competitive as a country and in order for us to win globally, we need to make sure that we basically leverage our human capital, who happen to be immigrants, who are highly skilled, whose skills are not being leveraged,” she said.

“I thought this is a really good tool and an opportunity for WES to participate as a member of the Coalition to push this forward, to change the indicators, to win globally from an immigration perspective.”