A new law coming to effect on July 1, 2024, will remove barriers to recognizing foreign credentials to relieve B.C.’s labour shortage. The International Credentials Recognition Act will require 18 professional bodies to remove barriers to 29 professions, allowing credentials of foreign educated workers to be recognized. The new regulations will also require regulatory bodies to collect data on foreign trained workers.

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The new act, which initially passed legislature in 2023, required revision before implementation; including the removal of work experience and language requirements, which parliamentary secretary for international credentials Ravi Parmar described as being “discriminatory” and a “big stop sign” to many foreign workers hoping to be employed in B.C. Parmar said these changes will create fairer, simpler rules for foreign-educated individuals looking to work in B.C.

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Among the professions impacted by the new act are paramedics, clinical social workers, engineers, architects, teachers, early childhood educators and lawyers. The soon-to-be implemented changes are designed to speed up integration of foreign-trained workers to address current and future labour shortages, it also calls on regulatory bodies to improve transparency, cut wait times and charge international applicants similar fees as domestic ones.

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These regulations come at a time when B.C. is only one of several G7 jurisdictions competing for skilled, foreign labour. Premier David Eby worries that B.C. is not receiving enough support to integrate newcomers, with Parmar stating that ‘we need the federal government to step up”. The implementation of the International Credentials Recognition Act will remove roadblocks that, up to this point, have prevented skilled professionals with foreign credentials from establishing themselves in B.C.

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