Getting Licensed and Practising Are Two Different Problems in Canada

Credential recognition answers a narrow question: does this person's training meet the standards required to register here? The Conversation Canada treats that gatekeeping as necessary, and argues regulators are right to apply it. Integration asks something harder — what happens to the career afterward.

The two are not the same achievement. National data cited in the piece show that in 2021, only 57.7 per cent of employed, internationally educated health professionals were working in health occupations. Clearing the registration bar and building a career in the field turn out to be separate problems, and the second one is far less visible.