A group of medical professionals trained abroad are determined to work in their field of choice after immigrating to Canada for bigger opportunities and a better life.
Experts say competing global markets and skilled labour shortages may soon mean Canada will have to compete with Japan and western Europe for the best and brightest workers.
Marty Schreiter of the Kitchener Waterloo Multicultural Centre says immigrants "come with huge disappointments, but yet also hopes."
Every week, in a room donated by the centre, foreign trained medical students and doctors study for their Canadian qualification exams.
Masood Sedghi is a foreign trained doctor, he says "I have been to university about eight years in my home country, after that I have 13 years experience practicing medicine, but here they don't even accept us being a volunteer."
There are over 150 foreign educated medical professionals that drift in and out of this study group, from countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Iraq.
They all say they knew about the challenges before they arrived, but took the chance anyway.
Mustafa Abdul Selam immigrated to Canada from Iraq, he says "I called people in the U.S., they all said it was very hard, ‘Just come to the U.S., don't come to Canada.' But because I am Iraqi I was looking for a country where I can feel safe."
Everyone in the group is supported by their family, which they say is a necessary step to focus on the transition.
It's a long process that includes perfecting their technical English and passing three lengthy qualification exams. It can take two to four years to complete.
Even more frustrating, they say, is not being able to prove themselves in a hospital environment.
Medical student Faaeza Jawaid says "I have tried to get some work around here but unfortunately the response I got, is that they don't accept you."
A report released by Statistics Canada in September 2010 listed Ontario in the middle of the pack in terms of recognizing credentials across the country.
Recognition peaks in Atlantic Canada at 59 per cent, with Ontario at around 32 per cent, and British Columbia at the bottom of the list at 23 per cent, according to the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants from 2000 to 2005.
In Canada, about 20 per cent of jobs are regulated, including teachers, nurses, physicians and engineers. And according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada there are more than 400 regulatory bodies nationally.
The maze of regulations makes it even harder for newcomers to get through all the red tape.
Schreiter says "We have to realize still for internationally trained professionals they are looking at huge barriers that are systemic in nature."
That means many of the doctors in the study group will end up in health care, but not as doctors.
Employment Counsellor Rukmini Borooah-Pyatt says "After all those years of experience, I mean how would one feel? It's very, very challenging, very isolating, but somewhere along the way they also make compromises."
Despite all the challenges facing them, members of the group say they don't regret their decisions to move to Canada, and say they still have hope their stories will be different.
