Amin* was a successful lawyer, and his wife Zainab was a teacher. Their lives were full, with three teenage sons and an extended network of family and friends. Then, the Taliban came into power. Suddenly, Zainab was forbidden to work outside the home. Amin’s opposition to the new régime made it difficult for him to practice law and it was dangerous for his family to remain in Afghanistan. He, his wife and sons fled to Canada, where they were able to make a successful claim for refugee status. However, that is not the end of their story.

Even though they were safe in Canada, Amin and Zainab were unable to find work. Their foreign credentials were not recognized in Ontario. Even if they were, they would not be able to work as they could not speak, read or write English. They came to The Salvation Army Immigrant & Refugee Services (IRS) English As A Second Language (ESL) program to remedy this. Two years later, Amin and Zainab communicate successfully in English. While her husband is still not permitted to practice law in the province, Zainab completed a college course to be certified as a chef, and now works to support the family.

The importance of ESL and foreign credential recognition to successful settlement of newcomers cannot be over emphasized. You have probably heard the saying “Toronto has more taxi drivers with PhD’s than anywhere else in the world”. Unfortunately, that saying is largely true. While many refugees and immigrants come to us with from highly successful professions in their country of origin, they are seldom able to work in that same profession here. Both the government of Ontario, and The Salvation Army are working to change that.

The provincial government has tabled Bill 124 the Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act. If passed, Bill 124 would help skilled newcomers work in their field sooner. The Conference Board of Canada estimates that a failure to recognize the skills and credentials of newcomers costs our economy as much as $5 billion a year. The proposed legislation would require 34 regulated professions in Ontario to adopt registration practices that are fair, transparent and expeditious. Currently, some professions explain their requirements, while others do not. Some take many months to assess a newcomer’s work experience and credentials without providing feedback to the applicant regarding the status of their application. This is why a more uniform and accountable admissions process is essential.

But before getting their foreign credentials recognized, newcomers must be proficient in English (French in Quebec). This is where adult ESL (English as a Second Language) classes come into play. In partnership with the Toronto District School Board, Immigrant & Refugee Services (IRS) provides three levels of ESL – High Beginner, Intermediate, and High Intermediate with a job search component. We provide further opportunities to improve English skills with one-on-one English conversation partners, English reading & comprehension classes, and English Conversation classes. Our students work very hard to improve their command of the language, and we have seen many success stories as a result.

One such success story is Mei-Li*. Mei-Li, who was obstetrician in China, immigrated to Canada in 2000. She soon discovered that she could not practice medicine in Canada, as her foreign credentials would not be recognized. Discouraged, she went back to China. However, she could not forget her Canadian dream, and returned to Canada. She discovered that her foreign credentials would permit her to take a one-year midwifery course at the University of Toronto. She sent her son back to her family in China, so that she would have the time to take the course. She did very well on the course. The only thing preventing her receiving her midwife license was her lack of command of English. She needs to pass the English Language Oral exam. Mei-Li came to IRS for help. She has attended our Adult ESL classes, has worked with a conversation partner and we were even able to provide her with a volunteer private tutor. Mei-Li hopes to pass her oral exam this fall – and then she will be delivering babies again. Maybe one day she will even be able to practice medicine in Ontario.

The Ontario government has recently negotiated the Canada -Ontario immigration agreement. This agreement will provide $920 million over five years to language training and settlement programs. The Salvation Army was among the participants in recent government consultations regarding how best to spend this money to facilitate the successful settlement of newcomers. It is our hope that funding for Adult ESL and Sector Specific Terminology ESL programs will be increased.

The IRS Mission Statement says that we are dedicated to serving all newcomers with the unconditional love and compassion of Jesus Christ. As we live up to this mission, we have the joy of seeing lives transformed and hope returned for people who fled to this country seeking a better life. With the new funding resources in mind, IRS has developed a new program to compliment our ESL classes, called the “Hope Rally”. The Hope Rally program will deliver the following services effectively:
· Achieving excellence in engaging newcomers to fully use their talents and skills, including small-business start-up, newcomer artists promotion, etc. ;
· Assisting immigrants and refugees to gain dignity and self-esteem by engaging them into community services, renewing and strengthening healthy family and marriage relationships;
· Empowering each client with a cutting-edge toolset to overcome culture-shock, and stand out in the job market;
· Facilitating newcomers to reach out and build a harmonious, safe, and healthy community
We believe this program could be a very effective addition to our language training component. If funding becomes available, we plan to commence this program in the spring of 2007. Working together with funders, we hope to smooth the path of successful settlement for many newcomers to the GTA area.

By Major Holly Patterson
Director – Immigrant & Refugee Services
Ontario Central Division

*Not their really names

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