It goes beyond professional licensing - my father is an IT consultant (a damn good one at that) that started out in Canada after immigrating, building security

It goes beyond professional licensing - my father is an IT consultant (a damn good one at that) that started out in Canada after immigrating, building security cameras in an assembly line. He had years of international consulting experience in Asia, flying all over the world. Nobody would acknowledge either his education (masters degree) nor his >10-year experience in the field. His path was: factory line worker -> IT infrastructure wiring guy -> front-line customer service phone jockey -> senior customer service phone jockey -> DBA -> consultant. So at least he's back where he belongs. Honestly, I think it was years wasted. The Canadian government's definition of "valuable international education/experience" is rarely ever acknowledged by private industry - licensed/regulated field or otherwise.