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EMPLOYMENT
NEWS - PAGE I
McGuinty
Government Opening Doors for International Professionals
Helping Newcomers and Health Professionals Succeed in Ontario
TORONTO, Dec. 18 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government is breaking down
barriers for international professionals to work in their field of expertise
by officially opening a one-stop resource and recruitment centre, Ontario
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle and Ontario Health and
Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman announced today.
Global Experience Ontario is a hub of resources and support for newcomers
to navigate through the complex system of licensure and registration in
Ontario. The centre also provides a home to the government's
HealthForceOntario Strategy to attract and retain health care professionals to
work in Ontario to provide greater access to health care for patients.
"We've listened to newcomers who have said that one of the major barriers
they face is getting accurate and accessible information about registration
practices in regulated professions," Colle said. "Global Experience Ontario is
the first centre of its kind in Ontario and a central link to vital newcomer
services across the province.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with the Ministry of Citizenship and
Immigration to offer a single point of access for information for health
professionals looking for the advantages of working in Ontario and assist
internationally trained health professionals to apply their skills in our
province," said Smitherman.
Global Experience Ontario, an Access and Resource Centre for the
Internationally Trained is part of the Fair Access to Regulated Professions
Act, 2006. The first legislation of its kind in Canada, it will require
Ontario's regulated professions to ensure their licensing process is fair,
clear and open. Global Experience Ontario provides hands-on support services
in-person, by telephone or online, including:
<<
- Links to education and assessment programs; settlement agencies; and,
internships and mentoring programs;
- Direction on standards for professional qualifications; licensing and
registration processes; referrals for training; and, alternative
professions that complement skill-sets.
>>
The facility also houses the HealthForceOntario Recruitment Centre which
showcases Ontario as an employer-of-choice for practice-ready health
professionals through strategic marketing and advertising to target groups of
health professionals, including a campaign to repatriate the estimated 3,000
physicians who are registered to practice in Ontario but who currently reside
out of the province.
Other elements of the HealthForceOntario strategy include:
<<
- the creation of the HealthForceOntario Access Centre for
Internationally Educated Health Professionals, which provides
internationally educated health professionals with access to ongoing
counselling and support, and some tools for onsite assessment - the
information needed to be successfully licensed to work in health care
in Ontario
- a comprehensive job website (http://www.HealthForceOntario.ca) that
contains a job registry that already has more than 1,000 postings for
doctors and nurses across Ontario.
>>
Today's announcement is a further example of how the McGuinty government
is breaking down barriers for newcomers and continuing the strong growth of
Ontario's economy. Other initiatives include:
<<
- Establishing the first provincial Internship for the Internationally
Trained. Administered by Career Bridge, newcomers with a minimum of
three years international work experience will be placed for six-
month paid assignments within the Ontario Public Service and Crown
Agencies.
- Creating a Foreign Trained Professionals Loans program of up to
$5,000 per person to cover assessment, training and exam costs, in
partnership with the Maytree Foundation.
- Investing more than $34 million in more than 60 bridge training
projects to help thousands of newcomers work in over 100 trades and
professions. These programs create a bridge for newcomers to language
training, licensure and work experience.
- Investing $20.4 million in education and support that brings doctors,
nurses and other health professionals working together in teams
- Guaranteeing that every nursing graduate in Ontario is offered a
full-time job in the province
- Creating four new health care provider roles in areas of high need.
- Doubling the number of training and assessment positions for
internationally educated medical graduates.
- Investing $130 million annually on programs to help newcomers upgrade
their language skills, settle and find work - more than any other
province in Canada.
Disponible en français
www.citizenship.gov.on.ca
www.OntarioImmigration.ca
www.HealthForceOntario.ca
Backgrounder
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HEALTHFORCEONTARIO STRATEGY
>>
The McGuinty government's HealthForceOntario is an innovative health
human resources strategy to attract and retain the best health care
professionals to Ontario, improving access for patients to quality health
care. The strategy includes:
HealthForceOntario.ca
HealthForceOntario.ca is the most comprehensive health professional job
recruitment site in North America.
A health care professional can use HealthForceOntario.ca to find job
information, assess his or her qualifications and learn more about the various
places to live and work in the province. The site:
<<
- Lists career opportunities for doctors and nurses (through the
HFOJobs portal) and also provides profiles on the communities where
jobs are located (job opportunities for other health care
professionals will be added soon)
- Showcases living in Ontario, highlighting the diversity of the
province that includes big city excitement and open-country
tranquility
- Offers video testimonials from health professionals already
practising in the province
- Outlines educational requirements for students interested in a career
in health
- Provides information to health care employers that promotes the
advantages of using the website
HealthForceOntario Recruitment Centre
The work of the Centre includes:
- An extensive and comprehensive campaign to repatriate the estimated
3,000 physicians who are registered to practice in Ontario but who
currently reside out of the province
- Enhanced coordination of existing recruitment efforts across the
province and creation of new community partnerships
- Active participation in strategically selected health professional
conferences
- Strategic marketing and advertising to target groups of health
professionals, e.g., surplus anaesthetists in the U.K., Lesbian Gay
Bisexual Transgender physicians in the United States
- The creation of an individualized/personalized support service for
prospective health professionals to help them navigate the systems
associated with recruitment, e.g., registration with the regulatory
college, job and community placement, spousal/partner support
- Development and implementation of an ethical recruitment framework
that will guide the activities of the Centre
Access Centre for Internationally Educated Health Professionals - Ryerson
University, 285 Victoria Street, 7th Floor
Internationally educated health professionals will have access to the
following services:
- Contact information and referrals to the regulatory body in the
appropriate field of expertise
- Links to education and assessment programs to provide timely access
to the best services available, as close to home as possible
- Information about standards for professional qualifications
- Information about licensing and registration processes
- Information and referrals for retraining
- Information about alternative professional avenues to complement
skills
- Ongoing counselling and support, to assist them in finding the most
effective path to professional practice
Media Contacts:
David Spencer A.G. Klei
Minister's Office Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
416-327-4320 416-314-6197
Disponible en français.
www.HealthForceOntario.ca
www.health.gov.on.ca
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For further information: Rick Byun, Minister's Office, Ministry of
Citizenship and Immigration, (416) 325-3460; David Spencer, Minister's Office,
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, (416) 327-4320; Michel Payen-Dumont,
Communications Branch, Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, (416)
314-7010; A.G. Klei, Communications & Information Branch, Ministry of Health
and Long-Term Care, (416) 314-6197
http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/December2006/18/c8347.html
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