Discrimination is real
One(no name mentioned or privacy) is at a senior position at a top educational institution in Saskatchewan. He is currently pursuing his PhD, is happily married and is a Canadian citizen. Yet, the 40-year-old Pakistani-born immigrant is all set to leave Canada for good in 2013.
There is a study that shows that 40% of immigrants who entered Canada in the skilled worker or business class left Canada within their first 10 years.
A previous study by Statistics Canada indicated that one-third of male immigrants (aged 25 to 45 at the time of landing) left Canada within 20 years after arrival. More than half of those who left did so within the first year of arrival.
“I feel like my career is going nowhere. I am overqualified for the position that I have currently,” sMost people says
Someone else claims that his work has been constantly nitpicked, he was stared at during meetings (which in his words comprised of all “white folks”) and on one occasion was completely sidelined when his boss was on leave. “I hold the second most senior position in my organization, but I don’t think I will ever be made director here. They [the management] completely ignored the fact that I was supposed to be made acting director,” he says. He, who was on a committee of the British Columbia Human Resources Management Association (BCHRMA), says that what he heard at a committee hearing about hiring immigrants in Canada shocked him. “Major Canadian multinationals in B.C. are on record saying that immigrants cannot express themselves well in interviews and therefore it is difficult to consider them for senior positions. I found that ridiculous. There are plenty of well-educated professionals who come to Canada, even get themselves accredited to suit Canadian standards and yet fail to reach their full potential because of the discriminatory attitude of employers. I don’t think I can tolerate such behaviour anymore,” he says. Mir admits that he will miss the pristine beauty of Canada and the clean air, but it is a very small price to pay when it comes to being professionally satisfied.
Canadian experience matters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someone else who lived in scenic Washington State in the United States. But his daughter’s educational prospects prompted the successful marketing professional to move bag and baggage to Vancouver in 2004. Though he was employed immediately, something was missing. “The salaries in Canada are abysmal. I do not mean to compare, but the difference in compensation is just too much. In Switzerland I was being paid about $350 an hour, and in Canada I started at $20 an hour. It is not about the amount, but a huge blow to one’s self-confidence,” he says. This was due to his lack of Canadian experience !!!!!!!!!!
But he did not give up and applied everywhere for a better position with better wages. He tried enlisting the support of a mentor through an immigration support program in Victoria and also applied for government positions. “I applied for quite a few jobs, and got a total of two interviews. Two! With both positions I came in second; in one position they clearly preferred a Canadian with more Canadian experience and they even told me to my face: ‘She [the winning candidate] knows someone at the Globe and Mail.’ I did not stand a chance, did I?” he says.
Besides his claim that the skilled worker program is misleading, the other form of bias that he feels is rampant is age discrimination. He has been told that he was not in the preferred age group for a particular job, despite his experience. Add to that the constant rejections due to his educational credentials and he had had enough. He is leaving Canada for good this spring.
source: www.canadianimmigrant.ca
The Wall