New web portal helps Quebec immigrants navigate credentials recognition process

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A new information portal has been created to help immigration candidates and immigrants to Quebec with questions about getting their foreign credentials recognized for employment in the province.

Developed with funding from Quebec's Immigration Ministry, known as MIDI, qualificationsquebec.com allows users to determine if their profession is regulated and, if so, what's required in order to have their education, training and work experience assessed and recognized and the organizations responsible for doing so.

Another feature of the new portal is information on job prospects for one's profession in the various regions of Quebec.

Counselors are also available either online or by phone to assist visitors with their search for information.

"Our counselors can guide you to the most relevant resources and services to recognize all or part of your education and competencies," the website's contact page reads.

All the information on the current Beta version of the portal is in French, but users who wish to contact a counselor are invited to do so in English.

The portal taps the expertise of a group previously called Qualification Montréal, which for years provided similar services in the Montreal area. MIDI funding has now allowed the organization to expand its mandate and provide its services across Quebec.

MIDI describes the expanded mandate of Qualifications Québec as:

facilitating the recognition of skills by institutions in Quebec's education and higher education network, professional orders and other regulatory agencies;
promote skills recognition services;
offer training and intervention tools to those engaged in the field of skills recognition;
set up intervention teams, in consultation with relevant partners, which can propose solutions to specific problems that may arise in the recognition of skills.

A news release says the aim is to have the portal capable of providing information on 500 trades and professions in French and English.

The new portal is a collaborative effort between Qualifications Québec, MIDI, Quebec's Ministry of Education and Higher Learning and its Ministry of Work, Employment and Social Solidarity.

"This is a great initiative, one that will hopefully serve as a model for other provinces," said David Cohen, senior partner at the Campbell, Cohen Canadian immigration law firm in Montreal.

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