Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Brendan Walsh. I am the director of foreign qualification recognition of the Foreign Credentials Referral Office, or FCRO, at Citizenship and Immigration Canada. I am here today on behalf of the FCRO's acting director general, Ms. Natasha Pateman, who spoke to this committee in early October.
I want to thank the committee for inviting federal officials back to speak further about the complexities of foreign credential recognition, or FCR, in Canada and I am pleased to answer additional questions that you may have.
In my remarks today, I will provide additional information related to some of the points and suggestions raised by some of the witnesses. As you will see, in many instances, CIC is already moving forward on suggested improvements.
As you may already know, it is the mandate of CIC to build a stronger Canada by developing policies, programs, and services that facilitate the arrival of people and their integration in a way that maximizes their contribution to this country. In line with the department's mandate, the FCRO focuses on working with individuals overseas by supporting the development of pre-arrival tools and services that provide needed information and that begin some of the licensure processes overseas. The FCRO is uniquely positioned within CIC's mandate and legislation to reach out to immigrants early via CIC'c immigration system and to support their labour market integration through the department's responsibility for the settlement and integration of newcomers.
Some witnesses specifically mentioned the Canadian immigrant integration program, or CIIP, the program that the FCRO funds with the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. You will recall that this program consists of a two-day orientation session.
I want to take a moment to clarify the reach of this CIIP program. You may recall that CIIP services are offered in the Philippines, China, India, and the United Kingdom, with satellite services available to Southeast Asia, northern Europe, and the Persian Gulf. By locating the CIIP in these service delivery points, which are Canada's highest immigration source countries, the program can potentially reach 70% of federal skilled worker applicants and 44% of provincial nominee applicants.
It is important to note that although the CIIP is a voluntary program for Canadian immigrants, it is reaching its targets. During the course of the contribution agreement 2010 through 2013, the CIIP is planning to serve a total of 13,326 immigrants. The evaluation of the CIIP will help to determine the feasibility of further program expansion after the contribution funding ends in 2013.
Mr. Chair, as noted in my remarks, which I have shared with this committee, the FCRO develops a number of information products and online tools that help internationally trained individuals understand the foreign recognition processes of Canada while they are in their country of origin and that also help other key stakeholders such as employers.
In the interest of time and to allow for more questions, I would ask the committee to please refer to my remarks for further detail about some of these FCRO information products. However, I would like to underscore that FCRO products such as An essential workbook for newcomers, our 24 occupation-specific fact sheets, and the Employer's Roadmap to Hiring and Retaining Internationally Trained Workers are meeting a real need by providing tangible, helpful information and advice. The number of downloads for all of these products is reaching now the one-million mark.
Mr. Chair, in addition to the information products that we provide, the FCRO also promotes discussion and information sharing among stakeholders who are responsible for assessing, licensing, and hiring internationally trained individuals. Launching this winter, the International Qualifications Network, or IQN, will provide a one-stop information site for FCR activities for employers, governments, immigrant-serving organizations, regulatory bodies, and academics to share new approaches and best practices.
Some of the witnesses who have appeared before this committee called for more federal leadership or new national initiatives to address FCR-related challenges. At CIC, we are always interested in hearing about new ideas and solutions from stakeholders, as we look forward to hearing the recommendations from this committee.
However, it is worth noting that, in many areas, the authority to make concrete improvements lies with provincial and territorial governments, especially if those changes concern provincially mandated professional regulatory bodies. That is why it is so important that all orders of government continue to work closely together to achieve progress through, for example, the pan-Canadian framework.
Part of CIC's specific mandate is to facilitate the integration of immigrants into Canada. The products and services provided by FCRO support CIC's mandate and are an example of how each of the three federal departments engaged in FCR activities has a unique contribution to make. There is a clear link between immigrants' ability to have their international education and experience recognized and how successful they will be in the labour market.
In the context of Minister Kenney's recent work to modernize Canada's federal skilled worker program, having the FCRO located within CIC has allowed us to work closely with other parts of the department to ensure that FCR issues and challenges are reflected and addressed through departmental policies and operations.
In closing, both CIC and the FCRO remain committed to improving the labour market integration and outcomes for internationally trained individuals. The FCRO will continue to support projects and develop tools that help internationally trained individuals begin the credential recognition process overseas so they can come to Canada and, to the extent possible, hit the ground running.
The FCRO will continue to work with federal partners at HRSDC and Health Canada, as well as provinces and territories and various stakeholders, to improve and streamline FCRO processes. When newcomers to Canada succeed in finding commensurate employment that allows them to put their skills and training to work quickly, we all succeed.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.