In the wake of Hon. Jason Kenney’s announcement of the Government of Canada’s commitment to accelerating the recognition of foreign professional certifications, CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS business panel were asked about the value of this government-led reform as well as perceptions of the main assets and liabilities of foreign trained professionals.

Panelists see the Conservative government-led reform as highly valuable and expect its value to jump further after the economy recovers from the Recession. Some panelists nonetheless express concern about non-equivalence of credentials in the case of some professions.

The principal benefits to business of foreign trained professionals are an increase in the supply of skilled personnel along with an increase in the number of employees with new ideas and diverse experiences.

Panelists see the main challenges as foreign trained professionals with inadequate skills in either of Canada’s Official Languages along with Inadequate understanding or acceptance of Canadian social practices, for example, how men relate to women.

These are the key findings from this past week’s Internet survey of CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel. The weekly business survey is undertaken for Canadian Business magazine under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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