Foreign-trained dentists hoping to immigrate to Canada under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) are subject to new eligibility criteria after Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) launched changes to the program in May 2013.
The redesigned FSWP no longer includes dentistry in the list of eligible list of occupations. However, eligibility by occupation is just one of three streams under which applicants may apply to the program. Dentists are still eligible to apply to the FSWP if they have a qualifying job offer or if the applicant is an international student enrolled in a PhD program in Canada and meets the program’s criteria for PhD students.
Another important change to the program is the introduction of the educational credential assessment (ECA), which determines if foreign credentials are equivalent to a completed credential in Canada. Applicants submitting a foreign educational credential in support of their application must get an ECA. Four organizations have been designated to provide ECA reports for the purposes of immigrating to Canada under the FSWP.
Full details of the FSWP are available on CIC’s website.