PRIME Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday announced that a re-elected Conservative government will make it faster, fairer and more affordable for new Canadians and Canadians trained abroad to get their foreign credentials recognized in Canada.

“Canada is fortunate to attract hard-working immigrants from around the world who are eager to earn a better life for their families and contribute to Canadian society”, said Harper, “but financial impediments can make it difficult for these new Canadians to get their foreign credentials recognized, preventing them from filling in-demand jobs.”

Harper said his Conservative government has introduced a number of measures to improve the foreign credential recognition process, including establishing the Foreign Credential Recognition Loans program, which helps new Canadians who do not have sufficient credit history in Canada to obtain financial support to complete the credentialing process.

He announced that a re-elected Conservative government would more than double the Foreign Credential Recognition Loans program to provide 20,000 new loans to internationally-trained professionals over the next five years. He added that a re-elected Conservative government would work with the provinces and territories to accelerate accreditation decisions – from one year to 60 days – for high-demand occupations.

“Our government has done more to improve the foreign credential recognition process than any previous federal government in Canadian history”, said Harper. “We will continue to prioritize this important issue to help ensure that all hardworking Canadians have the opportunity to pursue meaningful work in their field of training.”

He alleged that in contrast to the Conservative Government’s proven record of action on foreign credential recognition, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Thomas Mulcair’s NDP have no plan to address this issue.

“The other parties are too preoccupied with their dangerous high-tax, big-debt agendas to focus on the practical realities facing new Canadians and Canadian businesses, like the foreign credential recognition process”, added Harper. “Only our government has a proven record of support for new Canadians, and a clear plan to continue making the foreign credential recognition process faster, fairer and more affordable for internationally-trained professionals”.