Newcomers and settlement workers say financial pressure, isolation and strain at home can follow when internationally trained professionals cannot find work in their fields.
Bakri arrived in Canada with experience as a petroleum industry engineer in the lucrative petrochemical sector (he asked to only use his first name to protect his family’s privacy; New Canadian Media verified his identity).
Today, he drives for Uber in Toronto, sometimes working more than 10 hours a day while trying to cover his monthly expenses.
In Iraq, engineering had given Bakri a sense of self worth, he said. In Canada, the financial pressure of gig work and being unable to return to his field strained his marriage, which eventually ended in separation.
“I went from having dignity and purpose,” he says, “to feeling like a nobody.”
Bakri is one of several internationally trained professionals who told NCM that being unable to find work matching their education and experience affected not only their finances, but also their sense of identity and relationships.
Employment counsellors and researchers say underemployment can contribute to isolation and psychological distress. Yet settlement supports are often centred on language, job-search skills and credential recognition, leaving the emotional and family consequences around the complex, often disorienting immigration process unaddressed.
Statistics Canada data released in April 2026 show that recent immigrants were more likely than Canadian-born workers to report being overqualified. Among workers aged 25 to 54 with a bachelor’s degree, 30.3 per cent of recent immigrants said they were overqualified for their jobs, compared with 20.2 per cent of Canadian-born workers. Recent immigrants with bachelor’s degrees were also more likely to say their jobs were mostly unrelated to their field of study — 22.3 per cent compared with 15.6 per cent.
A University of Alberta overview of research on skilled immigrant underemployment found that work below a person’s qualifications can be associated with loss of employment-related skills, professional identity and social status, as well as psychological distress.
Loss of professional status
Yousif, a former sales manager for a major technology company in the Gulf, said his standard of living and sense of status fell sharply after he arrived in Canada. NCM is withholding his real name at his request. “I had a comfortable, respected life … Upon my arrival, everything changed.” He said employers repeatedly rejected him because he lacked Canadian experience, and he eventually took low-paying retail jobs. He linked the financial pressure and loss of status to strain in his marriage and eventual separation.
Similarly, Mohammed El-Tamimi, a Yemeni newcomer who previously worked in safety roles back home, faced many challenges. After developing a serious illness, he experienced family abandonment, police involvement amid domestic tensions and profound isolation exacerbated by language barriers. “I was facing illness, separation, legal issues, and I couldn’t speak English fluently. I felt helpless and lonely,” he recalled, highlighting how multiple stressors compound the identity crisis.
Reem Bashir, an employment counsellor at CultureLink Services for Newcomers, said loss of professional identity is common among the internationally trained professionals she works with. She has seen clients grieve their former careers, become socially isolated and experience strain at home as family roles shift.
Canada’s economic immigration system awards points for education and work experience, but the qualifications that help people immigrate do not always lead to comparable employment after arrival. Bashir said settlement programs often focus on language training and resumés, but may not provide integrated mental-health support or programming for whole families.
In response to NCM’s questions, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said many skilled newcomers face underemployment and difficulty having their credentials recognized. The department pointed to pre-arrival services, language training and partnerships intended to help newcomers enter the labour market.
Employment and Social Development Canada also pointed to its Foreign Credential Recognition Program, which funds governments and organizations to improve recognition processes and provide loans, work-experience opportunities and other supports.
ESDC said the program has supported more than 40,000 internationally trained professionals since 2018. It also said 63 per cent of people who received microloans between 2018 and 2022 found work in their field or a related sector.
Canada’s federal Budget for 2025 proposed $97 million over five years, beginning in 2026-27, to establish a Foreign Credential Recognition Action Fund focused on health and construction. The money is to come from existing departmental resources.
ESDC’s website says the program paused continuous intake of new funding proposals on April 29, 2026, citing shifting priorities and available funding. Those initiatives address licensing and employment barriers, but Bashir said they do not always address the emotional fallout of prolonged underemployment. In her work, she has seen financial strain, shifting family roles and isolation place pressure on households.
Bakri described the effect in his own words: “After arriving in Canada, there was an increase in tension at home. Financial difficulties and the stress of adapting to a new country led to more arguments and emotional strain between us.” He said the marriage eventually ended.
For Bakri and Yousif, the problem was not only lower earnings. It was also the abrupt loss of professional status and the pressure that followed at home.
Bashir said settlement programs often lack integrated mental-health support or family-centred programming. In her experience, she said, “The loss of professional identity is not the exception, it is nearly universal among internationally trained professionals.”
Editor’s note: New Canadian Media verified Bakri’s identity during a video call, during which he showed his driver’s licence. Yousif’s identity was verified through a copy of his driver’s licence provided to NCM.
Shawgi Mustafa
Shawgi Mustafa is a Toronto-based journalist and energy analyst with over 10 years of experience covering energy markets, human rights, politics and migration. He has worked for numerous prominent media organizations across the Middle East. His work focuses on the intersection of global politics, human rights and energy economics. X: @shawgi