TheStar.com - How much do foreign credentials count?

Skilled newcomers can't find work — as jobs go unfilled Organizations

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May 25, 2006. 01:00 AM
DANIEL GIRARD
EDUCATION REPORTER


When he left his engineering job in the Middle East to immigrate to Canada, Iskandar Abi-Karam believed he was coming for "a good life," a land of opportunity for those with skills.

A year and a half later, Abi-Karam, 49, is planning to leave — he hasn't been able to get a job, or even be accepted as an engineer, despite 20 years of experience throughout the Middle East and Europe.

"If so many countries in the world felt I was worth something and put me to work, then I can't understand why Canada feels I am useless," said Abi-Karam, a married father of two who was born and raised in Lebanon and speaks six languages. "If it was that I didn't know how to do the job, fine.

"But I am being ignored before I can even get started. If I cannot find work, I cannot stay."
TheStar.com - How much do foreign credentials count?