Big turnout in CASJ survey on professionals

Big turnout in CASJ survey on professionals

TORONTO – The survey on access to trades and professions recently conducted by the Community Alliance for Social Justice (CASJ) culminated successfully, with a 40 per cent response rate.
The survey, a collaborative project with Dr. Philip Kelly of York University, was started August 15, 2005, with the distribution of 1000 questionnaires. As of Oct. 1,2005, 400 completed forms had been collected, with dozens more expected to come in within the next few days.
“This participation rate is very encouraging,” says Edwin Mercurio, CASJ Chair.
“This means access to trades and professions is an issue that the Filipino community takes very seriously,” Mercurio added.

In addition to the survey, a series of six focus groups have been organized to further explore the issue of access to trades and professions, as experienced at present by members of the Filipino community.

The six focus groups include nurses, physiotherapists, engineers, accountants, caregivers, and professionals from diverse fields.

The focus group with engineers, held Saturday, Sept. 17, was organized with the assistance of the Ontario Association of Filipino-Canadian Engineers, headed by Jelbert Real, president.

The focus group with accountants, held Saturday, Oct. 1, at Metro Hall was coordinated with the Association of Filipino Accountants (AFCA), headed by Julito Longkines, president.

The issue of access to trades and professions is a real concern of Filipinos, who are among the highest educated eithnic groups in Canada, and yet among the lowest paid, studies based on Statistics Canada data have shown.

This discrepancy in education and income was one of the highlights of the statistical profile of the Filipino community presented by Dr. Kelly during CASJ’s October 30, 2004 conference, which was attended by around 200 people.

One of the activities of CASJ, led by its Access to Professions and Trades task force is to investigate the current situation with regards to access to trades and professions within the community.

The survey and focus groups are part of this investigation. CASJ will use the results of this study in its efforts to advocate for changes in policies and practices of government, and of regulatory bodies, especially in the assessment of educational credentials. One of the biggest barriers to access is the non-recognition of credentials of foreign educated and trained people.

The results of this research will be incororated in a paper to be presented by Dr. Kelly and Mila Astorga-Garcia in a workshop at the 10th International Metropolis Conference to be held in Toronto, October 17-21, 2005.

The prestigious conference will be attended by delegates around the world: academicians, policy makers government and non-government representatives, and the community-based sector.