Employment
To find employment is one of the major goals in settling down in a new place. Here are some facts about employment in Ontario:
Legal Age to Work:
The legal age to work in Ontario is as low as 14 years for most of the jobs. These jobs are usually in the non-regulatory professions. Anyone under the age of 18 can’t work during school hours unless excused from school attendance under provisions of the Ontario Education Act.
Age of Retirement from Work:
There is no official age of retirement in Ontario but one can get the full old age pension benefits at the age of 65 and limited old age pension benefits at the age of 60. People often have different reasons to work in their professions but a common goal is to continue earning a living.
Residential Status in order to Work:
People from many different countries come to Ontario under many different immigrant and temporary resident categories. However, in order to work in Ontario, one should either be a Citizen, permanent resident, Convention Refugee or a Temporary Resident with a valid work permit. Some of those temporary resident categories are refugee claimants, temporary foreign workers, international students and working holiday.
Scope of Employment:
The two industries that provide jobs in Ontario are either goods-producing or service industries. Examples of goods-producing industries are auto industry, manufacturing, farming, mining and many more.
The Service industry includes hospitality, film industry, education, financial institutes and many more. Jobs in these two industries are divided into two categories:
- Regulated jobs: To work in a regulated profession one should have relevant education, experience and then a license from a regulatory body. One example is the profession of an elementary school teacher. For instance, to become an elementary school teacher in Ontario one should have at least an undergrad degree followed by Bachelor’s of Education and then a license from Ontario College of Teaches, which is the licensing body in this case.
- Non-regulated jobs: These do not require certification or licensing from a regulatory body. Some examples could be sales, marketing, customer service and administrative jobs.
As a newcomer to Ontario with education and experience outside of Canada sometimes it can be a challenge to find employment in Ontario. Even if the profession is non-regulated (customer service, clerical, sales etc.), the professionals who are internationally trained have to go through many challenges such as credential recognition, creating a Canadian style resume and cover letter, clearing interviews and understanding job search techniques.
Credential Evaluation
Credential Evaluation
Credential Evaluation
Finding Employment
Credential Evaluation
Credential Evaluation
Being an Employee
Credential Evaluation
Being an Employee
Credential Evaluation
Academic credential evaluation is done to assess and recognize internationally trained individuals’ foreign educational qualifications in comparison to Canadian equivalence.
Usually there are two different types of credential evaluations:
1. Document by document evaluation:
This is considered less intense and is the basic form of evaluation.
2. Course by course evaluation:
It is more extensive and detailed form of evaluation.
The assessment helps the employers, academic institutions, occupational licensing bodies and immigration officers to understand the foreign credentials in a better way. It not only helps others to understand your credentials better but also gives you an opportunity to understand where you stand in comparison to Canadian educational or professional standards and what else might be required to find an appropriate job.
If you are intending to work in a regulated profession, then you should contact the regulatory body first and then proceed with the credential evaluation according to the instructions given by them. Many times the regulatory bodies do the credential evaluation on their own and sometimes they can direct you to go with an external body and submit the report to them.
There is always a fee attached to this service. Therefore one should be clear about the purpose of the evaluation before getting it done. Different organizations have different criteria about the requirements from the applicant. The criteria depend upon the course, university and the country in which the university is. One should thoroughly check with the credential evaluation body about the documents they need you to submit for them to evaluate.
Some organizations that provides credential evaluation services are as follows:
- World Education Services (WES)
- International Credential Assessment Services of Canada (ICAS)
- Comparative Education Services (CES)
More information on how to obtain Credential assessment can also gathered from Canadian Information Centre For International Credentials (CICIC).
Finding Employment
Some helpful resources to find employment in Ontario are:
Employment Ontario:
There are employment centers funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. These centers are called Employment Ontario centers. These centers can be found all across the province and help job seekers with free services and support to find employment. Some examples of the services provided include:
· Skills assessment
· Career Planning and Counselling
· Job Search workshops
· Mentoring for Employment
· Information about labour market
· Information about employment and career opportunities
· Information about training opportunities
· Information on apprenticeship and jobs in different trades
· Resources on self-employment
· Information on second career program
To find an employment office in your area you can go to the following website and search the nearest Employment Ontario Centre by putting your postal code:
http://feat.findhelp.ca/eng/search.php
You can also use Employment Ontario’s online Job Bank to search for jobs:
Employment Agencies:
Many private employment agencies help international professionals to get permanent and temporary jobs in their respective fields. These agencies are also widespread and can be found in every city of the province. Information about these agencies can be found on the website of ACSESS (Association of Canadian Search, Employment & Staffing Services). ACSESS has 400 corporate members and represents more than 1,500 branch offices across Canada. The primary areas of service by ACSESS include:
- permanent placement
- temporary placement/staffing
- executive search
- co-employment staffing services.
To find an employment agency in your area and specific to your profession you can go to the following website:
https://acsess.org/members/member-directory/advanced-search
Employment Support Programs:
For those individuals who are receiving Social Assistance from the Government, (based on a disability or on the need for basic financial assistance), support services are provided at the municipal level and at the regional level.
Region of Peel: Employment Support
Some of the services provided within the Employment Support program in the Region of Peel include:
o Employment Resource Centres that are self-directed sites where you can find job postings and tools needed for your job search. Access to computers, Internet, fax and photocopy machines are also available on site.
o Employment Placement Programs to help you find jobs that are suitable for your situation
o Employment Assistance Activities to provide you with specific training or financial assistance (e.g., transportation, child-care costs etc.) in order to help you build skills for your career path and to make you more employable.
Locations:
Brampton
10 Peel Centre Drive, Suite B, Brampton
Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Mississauga
7120 Hurontario St., Mississauga
Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Toronto Employment Services:
These centers provide support to the residents of Toronto irrespective of their status. Each center has a trained career and employment information specialist. Services can be used without making any appointment. There is free access to computer, internet, printer, photocopying and fax. Employment training and self-employment programs are also available for the people on social assistance. To find a Toronto Employment and Social Service location you can go to the following link:
Being an Employee
Rights and responsibilities as an Employee:
The Employment Standard Act (ESA) sets out the rights and responsibilities of both employees and employers in Ontario workplaces. ESA states minimum standards of employment and has detailed information about the following topics (and more) that employees and employers should be aware of:
- minimum wage
- equal pay for equal work
- pregnancy and parental leave
- leaves of absence
- benefit plans
Discrimination-Free Workplace:
As per the Human Rights law, in Ontario the workplace should be free of discrimination. No individual can discriminate, nor being discriminated by others. Discrimination can be based on many factors, including but not limited to the following:
· Ethnicity or race
· Gender
· Age
· Disability
· Religion
· Sexual Orientation
One should be also able to understand the difference between well-intentioned, good-natured interactions and an act of discrimination. Once faced with discrimination, some steps to follow are:
- Talk to your supervisor first.
- If the issue does not get sorted out, then talk to your Manager
- Approach Human resources if the issue still persists
- The last resort is to go to Human resource tribunal of Ontario.
Job Termination:
You might hear the words ‘Fired’ or ‘Laid Off’ in Ontario. One should be clear about the difference between the two terms.
Being Fired: A person can be fired if he or she demonstrates any misconduct towards others and towards the organization itself. In extreme cases, a person can be fired without any prior notice such as stealing at work, threatening or assaulting someone at work, refusal to do their job or using unsafe practices at work.
Being Laid-Off: This could happen without any mistake of the employee. There could be many reasons of lay off. Some of them could be lack of work at the company, restructuring of the organization or shutting down of the workplace itself. If a person is laid off, he or she should check if they are eligible to receive Employment Insurance.
If employer owes you money at the time of termination: Your employer must pay you your wages, including your vacation pay by 7 days after your employment ends.
Your wages include any money owing to you as a result of your termination. However, severance pay can be paid in instalments if you agree in writing or if the Director of Employment Standards approves. In these cases, the payments must be made within 3 years. If your employer misses a scheduled payment, the balance of the severance pay becomes due immediately.
