Ontario Removing Unfair Work Barriers for Skilled Newcomers

300,000 jobs are going unfilled across the province every day, yet only a quarter of internationally trained immigrants in Ontario work in professions they trained for.

That is why our government introduced historic legislation in December 2021 that will ban regulated professions from requiring Canadian work experience in more than 30 occupations.

In response to the legislation, Professional Engineers Ontario – with more than 80,000 members – are the first association to remove Canadian work experience from their application criteria.

This move has the potential to help thousands of qualified newcomers pursue their dreams over the coming years, all while maintaining Ontario’s world-class licensing and exam requirements.

Every worker in Ontario deserves a chance to work in the profession they have studied for.

Ontario is the first province in Canada to ban unfair or discriminatory Canadian work experience requirements to help newcomers build a better life for themselves and their families.

In December 2023, all unfair requirements for Canadian experience will be automatically voided unless an exemption is granted by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development for public health and safety.