http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1154844--trading-stethoscope-for-broom?bn=1“Federal budget 2012: Skilled immigrants urge investments into talents already in Canada”
Nicholas Keung, Immigration Reporter;
Published On Sat Mar 31 2012
“Every evening after dinner, Naseem Ahmed Pasha would don his dress pants and dress shirt, and say goodbye to his three boys, telling them he was leaving for work in hospital.
By the time Pasha, a family doctor from India, got to his worksite, he would change into his uniform, the uniform of a security guard, for his 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift at a Toronto condominium – for $8.50 an hour.
Before Pasha arrived Canada in 2006 under the skilled immigrant program, he was confident he would soon be able to use his skills and contribute to this country in a meaningful way.
After all, he has a medical degree from India's University of Mysore and practiced medicines first in India and then in Saudi Arabia for 15 years. In his two years as a security guard here, he studied and passed all the qualifying exams and had his credentials certified.
Yet today, instead of treating patients and curing diseases, Pasha is sweeping floors and lifting heavy merchandise at a Toronto home improvement hardware store on survival wages.
“It's a very tough pill to swallow,” said the 44-year-old, choking back tears. “I wasn't prepared for this kind of jobs. But coming here, you have to survive and put bread on the table.
“I didn't tell my kids because I come from a culture where being a doctor is an honourable and noble profession. Now my status has dropped, doing blue-collar jobs. It would have a bad impact on my kids.”
There are many highly educated and skilled immigrants like Pasha who have their skills wasted and look for Ottawa's investment in the talents already here.
Of all the professions, physicians are probably the most highly regarded but also among the internationally-trained immigrants most likely to fail to get back into their field of training. (A Statistics Canada study found that 60 per cent of new immigrants failed to work in the same field.)”
Immigration Forum
