AIPSO response to Foreign Credential Recognition initiative
It's a waste of time and money to invest $50 million to help Canadian professional associations assess and recognize foreign credentials.
Ottawa has pledged $50 million to help professional bodies assess and recognize foreign credentials. But those dollars would be better spent helping foreign-trained medical graduates who are unable to practise medicine in Canada because of a government policy that severely limits their opportunities.

Recognition of foreign credentials is not a stumbling block for physicians, as all foreign-trained doctors have to sit for Canadian medical licensing exams.

Without either a residency position or a specialized assessment position, however, the doctors cannot be licensed to practise medicine. Our real problem is that the regulatory bodies refuse to give any practice licenses without a residency or supervised assessment.

This is where the block is -- there are not enough residencies for new international medical doctors, and zero assessments offered for experienced specialists.
Government money would be better spent creating new residency positions.

What if we give $20 million to community doctors to act as preceptor and give them a protocol? Decades ago, it was common for an established physician to be a preceptor, or supervisor, for a medical graduate for a time before they launched their own practices.
Reinstating that process will allow international medical graduates to complete the required placements.

AIPSO calls on all stakeholders and the government to do the right thing and create more residency positions and fund practice assessments for experienced doctors.

Note: Statements to Welland Tribune