Immigration and Multiculturalism - Request for Proposal - Foreign Credential Recognition Research and Engagement Project

Bill 203 – Foreign Credential Advisory Committee Act (FCACA) came into force on June 28, 2024. The purpose of FCACA is to establish an Alberta Foreign Credential Advisory Committee tasked with providing recommendations to support a more efficient system to assess and recognize foreign credentials, with the aim to position Alberta as a leader in Canada; improve provincial attractiveness to skilled workers; address expected labour shortages; and foster a more prosperous and inclusive workforce. The mandate of the Foreign Credential Advisory Committee is to facilitate the recognition of foreign credentials in Alberta by: (a) reviewing legislation and other rules, including those established by professional regulatory organizations, that govern the recognition of foreign credentials in Alberta; (b) evaluating the process in place in other jurisdictions in Canada to advance the recognition of foreign credentials and identifying areas of success; (c) making recommendations to the Minister in accordance with *section 7 that, in the opinion of the Committee, would make Alberta more prosperous by (i) improving the process for recognizing foreign credentials in Alberta, and (ii) facilitating the recognition of foreign credentials in specific professions with current and anticipated labour shortages. * Section 7 refers to reporting requirements in the FCACA. The committee brings together 13 members from various sectors, including industry, regulatory bodies and educational institutions, and those who have navigated through the foreign qualification recognition system. The Foreign Credential Advisory Committee (FCAC) is required to deliver a report on their recommendations to the Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism by June 28, 2025. To this end, the committee requires a range of supports for the development of recommendations and preparation of the final report, including research, stakeholder engagement, data collection and analysis, identification of opportunities to inform the committee recommendations, and report writing. b) Project Objectives: The main objectives of this project are, based on the direction of the department, FCAC Secretariat, and FCAC: to provide research and analysis, stakeholder engagement and report writing supports to map the landscape of foreign credential recognition in Alberta and other jurisdictions; and translate these findings into a report with the FCAC’s recommendations to be submitted to the Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism. The goal of FCAC is to provide input on how to improve and streamline foreign credential recognition to address the labour shortages in the province, and as such, should consider how to enable internationally trained professionals to work in the profession they were trained in, in Alberta. To facilitate the report submission to the Minister, with a goal of streamlining the foreign credential recognition process to enable internationally trained individuals to work in Alberta in the professions that they were trained in, this request for proposal includes the following phases: 1) Research and analysis across jurisdictions to map the foreign credential recognition process and provision of a report and presentation. 2) Consultations with interested parties to identify challenges and opportunities on how to streamline Alberta’s foreign credential recognition process. 3) Consolidating a “What We Heard” report, and present on findings from the consultations.