Barriers Removed to Increase Labour Mobility

It is getting easier for Nova Scotians and other Canadians working in regulated occupations and trades to move between provinces and to get jobs.

Federal, provincial and territorial governments have been working with more than 400 regulatory bodies across the country. The goal is to allow Canadians in regulated occupations to work in their fields anywhere in the country. Architects, dentists, optometrists, bakers and gas fitters are among the workers who will benefit from the changes.

Those changes include recognition of workers' competence to do the job regardless of where they were originally licensed or certified. Residency requirements are also being removed, and fees will not be any greater for incoming workers than they are for workers who lived in the province when they were certified.

"We already know Nova Scotia is a great place to live and work," said Education Minister Jane Purves, who has provincial responsibility for labour market issues and who represents Nova Scotia on the national Forum of Labour Market Ministers. "Through this initiative, we now have one more selling point to attract skilled workers to the local industries that need them."

This forum is leading the labour mobility initiative that stems from Canada's Agreement on Internal Trade, adopted in 1995. The agreement's section on labour mobility aims to remove barriers that prevent movement of workers from one jurisdiction to another.

Under the 1995 agreement, the existing Interprovincial Standards (Red Seal) Program will continue its role as the primary vehicle for trades workers to have their qualifications recognized across the country. Journeypersons who have not achieved Red Seal status will have the opportunity to be assessed according to Nova Scotia's standards and certified here.

Nationally, more than 75 per cent of the identified occupations had either met or were close to meeting the terms of the agreement by July 1.

In Nova Scotia, several government departments are directly responsible for regulating some occupations and delegate the responsibility to regulatory bodies for others.

Most identified trades in this province were already meeting the terms of the agreement before the initiative began. Of the province's other regulated occupations, 95 per cent have either signed or are very close to signing mutual recognition agreements with their counterparts across the country. Discussions to resolve issues among the remaining trades and occupations continue.

A full report on governments' progress on the initiative is expected in the near future.