Thorncliffe Park residents are educated, but earning low incomes. Could new legislation help?

Walking into any Toronto hospital reminds Shakhlo Sharipova of the career she left behind. 

"Just the smell of the hospital brings those memories back. I feel this is my mission, this is where I belong really," she said. 

It's been 15 years since Sharipova entered a hospital as a working physician. She emigrated to Thorncliffe Park from Tajikistan in 2009. There, she had spent 12 years working as an ophthalmologist, specializing in glaucoma.

After arriving in Toronto, her ability to continue that career was thrown off course. 

Sharipova paid for ESL classes to ensure her English was perfect and other classes to help her prepare for Canada's qualifying exams as an internationally-trained doctor. She would also need to complete a four-year medical residency — regardless of the number of years she had practiced in Tajikistan — of which there are limited spots for foreign-born physicians. 

But after three years and more than $10,000, she said the lengthy licensing process proved too trying while providing for her family, including her son, who requires round-the-clock care for severe autism.

Newcomers face significant barriers to being hired in the fields they are trained in due to Canadian experience requirements. Statistics Canada has identified what it calls a recent trend in over-education by immigration status, noting that in 2016, the most recent data available, half of all newcomers had at least a bachelor's degree — but they still made up the majority of employment growth in low-skilled or medium-skilled jobs.

While the problem is Canadawide, it's of particular concern in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood — an example of how new immigrants are being let down by bureaucracy, residents and experts who study the issue told CBC Toronto.

Ontario is in the process of passing legislation that seeks to ban Canadian experience requirements in job postings, but experts say further supports for newcomers are needed. 

"I don't know anyone... working the same professions they were back home. They always take lower positions," said Sharipova of her neighbours in Thorncliffe, an area known as a landing hub for new immigrants and refugees.

According to the 2021 census, 49 per cent of residents in Thorncliffe had completed some form of post-secondary education. But 25.5 per cent of Thorncliffe's population is low-income, above the Toronto average of 13.2 per cent. 

Usha George, a professor of social work specializing in immigration policy at Toronto Metropolitan University, said she welcomes the province's new legislation, announced last November, to combat the issue of under-employed immigrants. Bill 149 is currently at the committee stage at the Ontario Legislature.

The province is facing a labour shortage with 200,000 jobs going unfilled, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development told CBC Toronto in a statement. The spokesperson said there's a need to fill construction jobs specifically.

If the legislation is passed, the ministry says prospective employees with the skills to perform a job will not be screened out if they obtained their experience outside of Canada.