Foreign Credential Recognition Program – Canada

Deadline: 30-Jan-23
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has launched the Foreign Credential Recognition Program (FCRP) to support the labour market integration of internationally educated health professionals.

Objectives

The objective of the Foreign Credential Recognition Program (FCRP) is to improve the integration of skilled newcomers into the Canadian labour market. This includes:

• Developing and strengthening Canada’s foreign credential recognition assessment and recognition capacity
• Contributing to improving labour market integration outcomes of skilled newcomers, and
• Supporting interprovincial labour mobility

National Priorities

• Priority may be given to organizations that demonstrate they will:
  • provide employment and wrap-around services tailored to the needs of skilled newcomer women, who face additional barriers to having their credentials recognized and integrating into the labour market compared to their male counterparts
  • Provide support services to skilled refugees, including those without documentation of their academic credentials and qualifications
  • develop an outreach strategy to improve awareness among skilled newcomers and increase program participation
• The Department may also prioritize projects based on:
  • geographical representation (in an effort to have pan-Canadian coverage)
  • service to Official Language Minority Communities (where there is a need), and/or
  • funding a distribution of projects that align with all CFP project areas

Funding Information

• Eligible organizations can apply for funding at a minimum of $500,000 and a maximum of $10,000,000.
• Duration: Have a maximum duration of 48 months.

Eligible Projects

The following requirements must be met for projects to be considered eligible for funding:  

• Projects must focus on addressing workforce challenges in one or more of the following 3 project areas:
  • Reduce barriers to foreign credential recognition for IEHPs:
    • Projects that reduce barriers to foreign credential recognition must demonstrate solutions to improving foreign credential recognition processes (for example, pre-arrival supports, easier access to information, faster timelines, increased access to assessments (including clinical assessments or placements), simplified steps in the credential recognition process, and increased access to practice in the field (for example, alternative careers in the health field, provisional licenses))
  • Provide IEHPs with Canadian work experience:
    • Projects that provide Canadian work experience must provide work experience that is relevant to the IEHPs’ intended health care fields of work. It must also incorporate wrap-around supports for participants (for example, childcare costs, transportation costs), and must include employer engagement (for example, diversity and inclusivity training for employers and non-newcomer colleagues, mentoring, coaching, networking)
  • Facilitate labour mobility between jurisdictions in Canada for health care professionals, including IEHPS:
    • Projects that facilitate labour mobility must reduce the systemic and administrative barriers for health care professionals, including IEHPs, who wish to work in another jurisdiction in Canada

Eligibility Criteria

• Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) expects that successful projects may begin as early as August 2023.
• Your organization must be one of the following types:
  • Provincial, territorial, or municipal governments
  • Regulatory bodies
  • Professional associations
  • Industry associations
  • Unions
  • Post-secondary institutions
  • Hospitals and healthcare institutions
  • Not-for-profit organizations
• Eligible participants are skilled newcomers. For the purposes of this call for proposals, skilled newcomers must be internationally educated health providers (IEHPs).
• Only 1 funding application per organization will be accepted.

For more information, visit ESDC.