Filipino Nurses Support Group
Philippine Women Centre of BC
Press Release

January 26, 2007

Filipino-trained professionals question non-recognition of education and skills

The third largest immigrant group in B.C. will be tackling tough national issues, such as: the lack of economic opportunities and the non-recognition of foreign skills and education of newcomers to Canada, in an important consultation to “Make the Filipino Community Count in B.C.” this February 9-11, 2007, in Vancouver.

The Filipino Nurses Support Group (FNSG), a group made up of foreign and Canadian-trained nurses, is joining in this province-wide gathering to discuss systemic barriers, which the group claims contribute to the marginalized position of the Filipino community in B.C.

“Our members’ experiences gathered through our community-based research shows systemic deskilling because of a lack of recognition of our members’ education, skills and abilities and the constant brick wall of employers seeking Canadian experience,” shares Leah Diana, member of FNSG. “Despite a severe nursing shortage, Filipino nurses are instead entering Canada as Live-in Caregivers to care for the aged and elderly for bargain basement wages.”

“It’s not just nurses,” explains Danielle Bisnar, board member of the Philippine Women Centre of B.C. (PWC) “We have documented the stories of engineers, midwives, optometrists, doctors, architects, and other professionals with similar stories of deskilling and frustration. Many who thought Canada was the ‘land of opportunity’ have ended up segregated into low-paying jobs such as janitorial or service-sector work,” added Bisnar.

“Lack of recognition of skills and education has been a long-standing issue for newcomers to Canada that remains unanswered,” asserts Diana. “Successive governments have made promises to take action on this issue, yet until present there has been none. We expect it will again become an issue with an election looming, but have yet to see a government with the political will to implement solutions that benefit our community.”

Bisnar connected recent findings of the Public Service Commission regarding the dismal record of the Federal Government in employing visible minorities to the challenges for newcomers, particularly those coming from communities of colour. “We share the commission’s concern on the low rates of recruitment of visible minorities and agreed that these applicants could be facing ‘systemic barriers’ in the system that has nothing to do with their competency or ability to do the jobs.”

Both FNSG and PWC hope that the upcoming consultation will provide participants an opportunity to build their capacity to bring these issues to politicians and policy makers.

Deskilling and accreditation are just a few of the issues that will be discussed the “Making the Filipino Community Count in BC”, a BC-wide gathering to be held from February 9 – 11, 2007 in Vancouver at the YWCA (535 Hornby).

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Media coverage is requested.