"You lack Canadian experience" / "You are overqualified

Human-rights victory brings little relief

Sikh immigrant faced discrimination over job application, tribunal rules

Globe and Mail
February 27, 2006

MICHAEL VALPY

As his dreams of finding work in his professional field crumbled, Sikh immigrant Gian Sangha took off his turban to make himself look more Canadian and prayed that his job application to a federal government agency would be successful.

He was fluent in four languages, had postgraduate degrees, including a PhD from Germany in environmental science, had co-written two books, authored numerous research papers and taught at India’s Punjab University.

Mr. Sangha was working as a landscape gardener in Greater Vancouver — mowing lawns and weeding flower beds — when he applied in 2001 for a mid-level position as a regulatory officer with the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board. And he scored among the highest of the 12 applicants the board chose to interview.

Yet to his shock a few days later, he was told his application had been rejected because he was overqualified. The board felt he would become bored with the job’s routine nature and quit prematurely.

Mr. Sangha complained to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in 2002 and in a groundbreaking decision released Friday, the tribunal ruled that the board’s action discriminated against Mr. Sangha and visible-minority immigrants in general. It awarded him $9,500 for pain and suffering.

Most significantly, it ordered the board to cease using any hiring policies or practices that would automatically disqualify visible-minority immigrants on the grounds they are overqualified — a ruling all federally regulated public and private employers will be required to take note of and one that will be applauded by immigrant professionals struggling to find jobs commensurate with their qualifications.

Although the tribunal stopped short of ordering the board to hire Mr. Sangha, it said that, with visible-minority immigrant applicants, «It is incumbent on the board to make some inquiry into the candidate’s motives for applying for the job, in order to obtain a more accurate prognosis of the candidate’s behaviour if hired.»

Tribunal chairman Grant Sinclair, who wrote the ruling, relied heavily on testimony from University of Toronto sociologist Jeffrey Reitz, a leading scholar on ethnic and race relations in Canada and barriers to immigrant employment.

Prof. Reitz presented an array of data showing that most immigrants to Canada are visible minorities, are on average more highly educated than native-born Canadians but face employment barriers that force them to seek lower-skilled jobs.

Mr. Sangha, now 56 and working at a clerical job in Surrey, B.C., faced a classic Catch-22 after immigrating to Canada in 1995. He was told repeatedly he couldn’t be hired for work at the level of his qualifications because he lacked Canadian experience. Yet when he applied for jobs in his field below his qualifications to gain experience, he was rejected because he was overqualified.

After the Mackenzie Valley board rejected him, Mr. Sangha sought treatment for depression from his family doctor. He later suffered two heart attacks and required arterial bypass surgery. The only work in his field he has been able to find is as a tutor for an on-line U.S. university.

Mr. Sangha said in an interview he is upset the tribunal did not order the board to hire him. The tribunal said it was satisfied the persons the board hired — there were four jobs offered — were qualified and it faulted the board only for automatically ruling out Mr. Sangha on the grounds of being overqualified.

Mr. Sangha said the barriers he has encountered to finding work in his professional field are similar to so many people he knows.

«They’re all driving taxis, they’re driving trucks,» he said.

He said he chose to come to Canada because immigration consultants in India told him he’d have no trouble finding work in his profession. When he arrived, he said he travelled throughout B.C. looking for a job and was prepared to move anywhere in Canada. He even removed his turban and cut his hair.

He said his children, now both in university, «every day were telling me, ‘Don’t be upset, Daddy.’ My credentials are superb. The Canadian government paid nothing for my education. It’s a crime.»

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