By rdnewsNOW Staff

RED DEER HOME TO 278 ASSET MEMBERS

Alberta attracting international professionals, ASET survey finds

Jul 31, 2024 | 9:49 AM

A recent survey by the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) of members who are internationally trained professionals found that Alberta is an attractive live/work destination for engineering technology professionals from other countries.

ASET officials say almost three-quarters of survey respondents arrived in Alberta when they first came to Canada. Among those who initially landed elsewhere – such as Ontario and BC – the majority relocated to Alberta for better employment opportunities.

Red Deer is said to be home to 278 ASET members, just over three per cent of which are internationally trained professionals.

A majority of respondents, 92.65 per cent, said they like working in Alberta, and cited the following reasons in order of importance: abundance of job opportunities in their field; strong economy; proximity to oil and gas industry; and no Canadian work experience required to attain an ASET designation.

Alberta was the first Canadian province to eliminate the Canadian work experience requirement for engineering technology professionals. Since then, ASET officials say other provinces have followed suit, adopting the approach to assessing professional competencies that ASET developed.

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“At ASET, we realized how difficult it is for internationally trained professionals who are qualified in their countries of origin to get recognized in Canada,” said ASET CEO Barry Cavanaugh. “With Canada facing a significant deficit in STEM talent and one-fifth of our national population on the brink of retirement, we need the skills and expertise of internationally trained professionals more than ever.”

According to the survey results, over one-third of survey respondents weren’t able to find work in their professional field when they arrived in Canada. Within that subset group, just over half said it was because employers required Canadian work experience. As a result, more than three-quarters of that subset group, 76.74 per cent, had to take work outside their professional field in order to meet living expenses.

Officials say the top two reported factors that enabled survey respondents to find work in their field were that their employer decided to give them a chance (25 per cent of respondents) and that they earned their ASET designation (20.31 per cent).

Survey respondents were asked what they would tell a newcomer who just arrived in Canada or Alberta as the most important thing to do in order to find work here. The number one response they gave, at 33.82 per cent, was to contact ASET and apply for its competency-based assessment program, say ASET officials.

Launched in 2016, ASET’s competency-based assessment program offers internationally trained and other engineering technology professionals a faster route to earning ASET designations and establishing careers. The first of its kind in Canada and pioneered by ASET, it enables them to gain purchase in their career fields without having to return to school full-time.

After survey respondents contacted ASET, officials say close to 40 per cent of them took six months to one year to earn their ASET designation, though it can be done in as little as four months. The majority of respondents, 51.47 per cent, said that having their ASET designation made a difference in their job search. At 80.88 per cent, the majority of respondents hold the certified engineering technologist (CET) designation.

While most survey respondents were from the Philippines, India and Pakistan, some hailed from Romania, Poland, Sri Lanka, Germany, Ireland, Australia, Vietnam, China, Ukraine, South Africa, Ghana, and Russia.

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