Mariam Saran Camara arrived in Quebec in 2009 from Guinea to join her partner who was already living there. Despite holding a master’s degree in economics and management, her qualifications were not only refused recognition, but she wasn’t even granted full Secondary V (Grade 11) credit. She had to spend two months completing it.
Seeing the needs in the healthcare field, she first obtained a college diploma in nursing, worked for a few years, and then went to university to become a clinical nurse. A mother of four, she is now pursuing a master’s degree while working part-time.
“The biggest challenge I had to overcome was going back to school, starting all over again. Rather than re-studying economics, I chose to go into the health field. But I admit that I did all this while also taking on family responsibilities, having children and everything that goes with it.”
Nearly half are disqualified
She is not an isolated case. “Despite having a higher than average Quebec education level, 45.2 per cent of immigrant women are underqualified, meaning they hold jobs requiring a lower level of qualification than their diploma. This has a direct impact on their economic security,” explained Ruth Sara Monteau at the time of the unveiling of a report on the situation of immigrant women, for which she was the project manager.
The publication of the report, entitled “Towards Equal Opportunities”, is accompanied by an awareness campaign under the theme “Qualified, but Invisible” aimed at raising awareness of the reality of these women whose skills Quebec is depriving itself of.
The report, a field study conducted in Montérégie, Estrie and Mauricie with immigrant women by the Quebec Network for Equality of Immigrant and Racialized Women (RAFIQ), clearly demonstrates that “the difficulties experienced are not individual, they are part of a system,” says Monteau.
“Many women find themselves in jobs far below their qualifications. They often have to start their studies again, take multiple steps, without any guarantees.”
More severe impact than for men
Immigrant women almost always face a greater impact than men, explains Yasmina Chouakri, Executive Director of RAFIQ. “Very often, it is the man who has priority upon arrival to resume his studies, to go to work, while the woman, especially when there are young children, will systematically back down and put aside everything related to the recognition of her skills and diplomas.”
The usual consequence is that the woman will take a low-skilled job to support the family while her husband returns to his studies, whether in a factory, a restaurant, or elsewhere. Years pass, and when it’s her turn to re-educate, she will be criticized for the years she spent outside her field of expertise, or she will have to dedicate further years to retraining herself.
Multiple inconsistencies in the system
The problem is that there’s a disconnect between the Ministry of Immigration, the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Employment, educational institutions, and professional orders because, initially, an immigrant’s diplomas are among the selection criteria used by the Ministry of Immigration, Chouakri points out. “The fact that foreign diplomas aren’t recognized, even though they were recognized in the selection process for immigrants, is flawed. An immigrant selected based on a diploma should necessarily have it recognized upon arrival.”
Census data shows that these women are proportionally more educated than women born in Quebec, precisely because of the selection criteria of the immigration process which favour highly educated profiles, but which become unqualified upon arrival here.
Universities and professional orders
Yasmina Chouakri points the finger primarily at universities, which tend to impose a much longer course of study than necessary. “Universities have an interest in attracting a large number of international students because it funds them. They are simply encouraging immigrants to return to school. It’s called redefining their qualifications. It’s not recognition.”
She acknowledges that professional orders, for their part, have “criteria that cannot be trifled with, and on that everyone agrees, for example, anything that can affect public safety, but indeed, some exaggerate more than others,” she says.
According to Ruth Sara Monteau, “the recognition process must first be simplified and structured,” highlighting the complexity of the journey for immigrant women with degrees, often described as an obstacle course, and the complete lack of coordination between government ministries, educational institutions, and professional orders. “Public policies must be adapted to the realities experienced by immigrant women. In concrete terms, this means ensuring that women have equitable access to skills recognition measures.”
Exclusion subtile
Hinva Bacha arrived from Algeria in 2022 with a degree in architecture and another in urban planning, after teaching architecture at the university for 15 years. Here, she pursued a master’s degree in project development and management. “I stayed within my field, urban planning, which encompasses both architecture and urbanism, because I knew that the path to becoming a registered architect was arduous and not straightforward.”
“I was told, ‘Yes, but you don’t know the building standards here,’ but that doesn’t make me any less of an architect. And besides, there are people, technicians, who deal with these issues. But I inquired with people who came before me, whom I know, and I understood that it’s too laborious.”
And she experiences a subtle form of exclusion since she still hasn’t managed to get a job in her field, construction. She’s currently a project manager at RAFIQ. “The few times I’ve managed to get interviews, it’s been ‘you’re overqualified’ or ‘you don’t know the standards here.’ And now that I have experience in Quebec as a project manager, I’m told ‘yes, but it’s in the community sector, it’s not the same.’ So far, I haven’t been able to access what I should normally be doing as a project manager, in construction, property management, or development.”
Slapstick Heads and Yvon Deschamps
Just like Hinva Bacha, Mariam Saran Camara retrained in a field that wasn’t her own. She spoke French when she arrived here, but wasn’t familiar with the accent. “I watched ‘Les Têtes à claques’ with my husband. And then I watched Yvon Deschamps’ comedy to decipher the accents,” she says with a smile.
She says she discovered she possessed “a personal determination and perseverance I never imagined she could have.” And if she’s speaking out today, “it’s also to send you a clear message: yes, integration can be difficult, yes, the obstacles can seem insurmountable. But no, they don’t define your future. Those of you still in this adjustment phase, don’t give up. Have faith in your worth.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
