The Daily UbuntuThread 06 · Economy and Inequality · September 25, 2026
The diploma in the drawer
Nearly one in three recent immigrants with a degree says they are overqualified for their job; Quebec is trying to speed up recognition of skills acquired elsewhere.
1 · The scene
At the corner pharmacy, the cashier immediately recognizes the names of the drugs on the prescription. She pronounces them better than the customer does. Back home, before she left, she was a process engineer at a pharmaceutical plant.
In the evening, after her shift, she opens a big red binder full of translated transcripts, employer letters and forms. Her daughter, in Secondary 3, asks when she will be an engineer again. She answers "Soon," gently closing the binder.
Original vignette
2 · The documented case
Talent waiting at the door
According to Statistics Canada, in September 2024 and September 2025, recent immigrants, who arrived less than five years earlier and hold a postsecondary credential, were the most likely to say they were overqualified for their job: 32.6%, compared with 19.1% of people born in Canada. Where the degree was earned matters too. Among recent immigrants with a bachelor's degree or higher, 27.6% of those who graduated outside OECD countries held a job requiring at most a high school diploma, compared with 14.0% of those who graduated in an OECD country.
In Quebec, access to many professions goes through a professional order that protects the public. The Commissioner for Admission to Professions, the first of whom took office in 2010, is responsible for making sure this process is fair and efficient. The government also adopted an interdepartmental action plan for 2021-2023, with $130 million over two years: bridging training, internships, financial aid, personalized support and tools for employers.
Recognizing a degree is not doing someone a favour. It is welcoming what a person brings, and what their community of origin invested in them. In the spirit of Ubuntu, one person's knowledge becomes wealth for everyone, provided the door is opened to it.
3 · The voice
“Improve and speed up the recognition of the skills of people trained abroad”
4 · The question
What know-how from elsewhere may be going unnoticed around you, and how could you help it find its place?
Sources
- Statistics Canada, Job mismatch among core working age immigrants with postsecondary education, April 7, 2026. www150.statcan.gc.ca
- Government of Quebec, Plan d'action interministériel concerté en reconnaissance des compétences des personnes immigrantes 2021-2023 (in French). www.quebec.ca
- Government of Quebec, Commissioner for Admission to Professions: mission and mandate (in French). www.quebec.ca
Every figure on this page links to a verifiable public source.
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