Canada’s first ministers endorse full labor mobility across the country by April 1, 2009

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Provincial Premiers and Territorial Leaders have finally endorsed an amendment to the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) at the First Ministers’ Meeting on January 16, 2009, which marks a significant milestone toward enhancing labor mobilitiy in Canada.

Under the agreement, any worker certified for an occupation by a regulatory authority of one province or territory is to be recognized as qualified for that occupation by all other provinces and territories.

The Committee on Internal Trade (CIT), comprising Canada’s provincial/territorial labor and trade ministers, has already approved full labor mobility pact that, effective April 1, 2009, will allow Canadian citizens and permanent residents to move freely and take advantage of job opportunities across Canada without going through province- or territory-specific accreditation and/or licensing process.

After first ministers’ endorsement, governments have set a goal whereby any foreign trained worker who submits a full application to be licensed or registered to work in their profession, would be informed of a decision within one year of the application. At that point, the worker would learn whether their qualifications will be recognized, or advised about any additional requirements deemed to be necessary to be fully recognized or directed to alternative pathways or related occupations that would use their skills and experience.

The first year for decisions will be 2010 for a limited number of high-priority occupations to be selected collaboratively with provinces and territories.

However, the new agreement has made clear that, before April 1 change, any exception to full labor market mobility will have to be clearly identified and justified as necessary to meet a legitimate objective, such as the protection of public health or safety, or its application in areas where there are significant differences in local practices, such as forestry.

The first ministers have also agreed to work on a common framework to recognize foreign credentials by September 2009, with an interim report on progress by June 2009.

"Our government created a Foreign Credentials Referral Office that helps foreign-trained workers succeed and put their skills to work in Canada more quickly," said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. "We are committed to fulfilling our promise to new Canadians to work with the provinces to address the important issue of foreign credentials recognition."