Question Period Note: Tabling of Employment and Social Development Canada’s Supplementary Estimates (B) for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2025

Why is Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) requesting $24.8 million for the
Foreign Credential Recognition Program in the Residential Construction and Health Care
Sectors in the Supplementary Estimates (B) for fiscal year ending March 31, 2025

To support the labour market integration of internationally trained professionals, this
investment will be used to fund projects in the residential construction and health
sectors, with at least half of this funding supporting FCR in residential construction.
• The Program will invest in projects that complement provincial and territorial activities,
and initiatives by regulatory bodies and other organizations that are national in scope
and fill FCR programming gaps.
• Specifically, this investment will provide funding to successful proponents to
implement projects that:
o Improve FCR processes (e.g. standardization of national exams, centralized
information portal, alternative assessment processes); and/or
o Provide employment supports to help skilled newcomers gain Canadian work
experience in their field of study and fully use their skills and talent (e.g. work
placements, wage subsidies, mentoring, occupation-specific language
training).
• This additional funding builds on investments already made by the Program in these
and other sectors.

Outside of a few federally regulated occupations, FCR and licensure are largely provincial and
territorial responsibilities that are often delegated through legislation to regulatory authorities.
There are approximately 600 regulatory authorities in Canada and 65 to 275 regulated
occupations, depending on the jurisdiction.
The FCRP helps to develop and strengthen Canada’s foreign credential assessment and
recognition capacity, contribute to improving the labour market integration outcomes of skilled
newcomers, and support interprovincial labour mobility.
The FCRP is a contributions program that provides project funding to provinces and territories,
regulatory bodies, post-secondary institutions, unions, and other organizations to improve FCR
processes and to provide loans and employment supports to skilled newcomers. The FCRP is
delivered through a series of intake processes, including the Program’s ongoing continuous
intake.
The annual FCRP budget had remained at $27.1 million since 2009, while the cost of providing
services and the number of skilled newcomers entering Canada has increased. The 2020 Fall
Economic Statement announced additional funding of $15 million for fiscal year 2021 to 2022.
Budget 2022 announced $115 million over five years, starting in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, and
$30 million per year ongoing to expand the FCRP with an initial focus on the health sector.
For a whole-of-government federal approach to FCR, the FCRP works collaboratively with
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Health Canada on FCR-related
programming.

Table: Funding for the Foreign Credential Recognition Program
Funding (in $) and Full Time Equivalent (FTE)

FTE
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 73
Supplementary Estimates (B): 7
Total Funding: 80

Salary
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 6,284,564
Supplementary Estimates (B): 783,474
Total Funding: 7,068,038
Operating and maintenance
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 1,194,848
Supplementary Estimates (B): 126,845
Total Funding: 1,321,693

Total Operating (Vote 1)
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 7,479,412
Supplementary Estimates (B): 910,319
Total Funding: 8,389,731

Grants and Contributions (Vote 5)
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 47,820,000
Supplementary Estimates (B): 23,846,804
Total Funding: 71,666,804

Sub-Total
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 55,299,412
Supplementary Estimates (B): 24,757,123
Total Funding: 80,056,535

Employee benefit plans
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 1,696,832
Supplementary Estimates (B): 211,538
Total Funding: 1,908,370

Total Funding
Existing Funding (Main Estimates 2024-25): 56,996,244
Supplementary Estimates (B): 24,968,661
Total Funding: 81,964,905