National labour mobility agreement announced

An important step has happened toward making Canada an easier place in which to live and work for those in the regulated professions.  On July 18, 2008 at the Council of the Federation meeting of the Premiers a national agreement on labour mobility was announced:

Labour Mobility

Emphasizing the critical importance of full labour mobility for all Canadians, Premiers directed Internal Trade ministers to amend the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) by January 1, 2009 to reach this goal.

These amendments will provide that:

· Any worker certified for an occupation by a regulatory authority of one province or territory shall be recognized as qualified to practice that occupation by all other provinces and territories; and

· Such recognition shall be granted expeditiously without further material training,examinations or assessment requirements.

Premiers further directed that any exceptions to full labour mobility would have to be clearly identified and justified as required to meet a legitimate objective such as the protection of health or public safety.

Premiers directed that, by the summer 2009 meeting of the Council of the Federation, these amendments will result in mutual recognition of occupational credentials between all provinces and territories. This will also benefit Canada’s labour market since once certified in Canada, qualified foreign-trained workers will enjoy the same mobility rights as qualified Canadian workers.

Premiers noted that the AIT’s enhanced dispute resolution mechanism, and their willingness to legislate, if necessary, will ensure full labour mobility rights for all Canadians.

I have previously written about the BC-Alberta Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility agreement which includes Early Childhood Educators.  We must now pay careful attention to this new National agreement; which will likely also include ECE’s.  How each Province and Territory recognizes training and credentials of educators and issues certification will have to become much more seamless. Opening the door to increased labour mobility is a good thing and will help us to reduce the shortage of not only ECE’s but many other professions as well.