Alberta praises new foreign-worker rules

BILL CURRY AND JOSH WINGROVE

OTTAWA AND EDMONTON— From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Canadian companies that want to bring in highly skilled foreign workers temporarily will be able to do so faster and pay them less under new federal immigration rules aimed at addressing the country’s persistent labour shortages.

In areas of the country that are booming economically – particularly Alberta – companies are complaining about the lack of skilled workers, a problem that Ottawa has identified as one of Canada’s biggest policy challenges. Of 190,000 temporary foreign workers who entered Canada last year, 25,500 went to Alberta.‬ Businesses that use the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which allows employers to bring in workers if they can prove they have advertised the jobs locally without success, say they are relieved that it will become less cumbersome, but critics worry the changes will lead to lower wages across the country.

Under the new rules, Ottawa promises to respond to employer requests for highly skilled workers within 10 days, instead of the 12 to 14 weeks it currently takes to get a Labour Market Opinion – a government approval that’s one major step in bringing a worker into Canada.

Also, previous rules required foreign workers to receive the “average wage” paid to Canadian workers in the same region, but the new rules will allow employers to pay up to 15 per cent less than that average wage.‬ ‪In an interview, Human Resources Minster Diane Finley said Canada’s skills shortages mean there will be more temporary foreign workers coming to Canada regardless of the latest changes.‬

“[Wednesday]’s announcement is going to make the system more efficient, it’s going to be more effective for the employers and it’s going to add protection to temporary foreign workers who are brought in while still ensuring Canadians get first crack at the jobs,” she said.‬ ‪

While the new national rules will apply only to high-skilled jobs at first, the government says it could be expanded to include other occupations.‬ ‪Ms. Finley made the announcement in the small, industrial town of Nisku, in central Alberta, which produces infrastructure for energy producers. Labour-starved Alberta relies on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program as a key pillar of its fast-growing economy.

But although Alberta applauded the changes, the province is hoping for further changes to Canada’s immigration laws, including an increase in how many people Alberta can nominate for permanent residency under the provincial nominee program – or no cap at all. Currently, it can put forward 5,000 people per year.

“We’d like to see the cap removed, but if we could get it up to 10,000 that would be very helpful,” said Alberta Human Services Minister Dave Hancock, whose department includes the employment and immigration file.

“The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is not the be-all and end-all. It is a way to get workers when we need them,” Mr. Hancock said, but residency is preferred. “The permanence is an important factor. … Ideally, you want somebody who will actually come to stay.”

Alberta’s provincial government has also complained that a four-year cap on how long a worker can stay short-changes Canadian companies, which help develop employees’ skills (and, in some cases, fluency in English or French), then are forced to kick them out. Other countries are benefiting from Canada’s training, the Alberta government has argued.‬ ‪

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s Alberta director, Richard Truscott, applauded the changes and said the TFW program is a “godsend” for some businesses. He added that more changes are needed to cut red tape and improve the overall immigration system.‬ “This is one first step in that direction, but there are many more steps to go,” he said, noting the labour shortage is “going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”

Immigration consultant Peter Veress, the president of Calgary-based Vermax Group, also praised the move, saying a 10-day turnaround would be a big improvement.‬ He said the jobs are typically ones that Canadians don’t want. “I don’t think we can fix the [labour shortage] problem domestically,” he said.

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Related articles

• Alberta praises new foreign-worker rules
• Feds expedite rules on hiring temporary foreign workers
• Temporary foreign worker program speeds up
• Ottawa fast-tracks approval process for hiring temporary foreign workers
• Federal job bank would fast-track immigrants with right skills: Kenney

• Government of Canada Announces a More Efficient and Responsive Temporary Foreign Worker Program (sys-con.com)
• Canada's foreign worker boom (macleans.ca)
• Ottawa tells EI recipients to take jobs being filled by foreign workers - or lose benefits (macleans.ca)
• Alberta looks to protect temporary foreign workers (cbc.ca)
• Help! No one wants to hire me as a foreign worker (theglobeandmail.com)

Immigration is a privilege, not a right

Immigration (Photo credit: lcars)

GURMUKH SINGH, GUEST COLUMNIST

Immigration, per se, is not a bad thing.

Many birth rate deficient western countries, including Canada, need newcomers each year.

But putting a fanatical emphasis on immigration quotas or numbers is a bad idea.

Delivering needed foreign skilled workers and professionals to industries and businesses is not a bad thing.

But making immigration policies hostage to politics is.

Canada’s immigration policies have become hostage to politics since the early 1980s, when immigrant numbers swelled and ethnic enclaves sprang up around major urban centres.

Wily politicians saw ready-made vote-banks in these ethnic enclaves and cleverly ramped up family-class immigration, as well as instituting various grants in the name of multiculturalism, to keep these vote-banks working.

Therein lies the rub. Once in place, vote-bank policies are very difficult to dismantle.

Today, any politician who tries to scale back family-class immigration, or any other category, faces a backlash from these vote-banks.

Worse, these flawed policies have engendered a deep sense of entitlement among some newcomers.

They won’t brook any tinkering with immigration categories that allow them to bring in their extended families and clans.

That’s nothing short of blackmailing the immigration system.

How absurd that the moment some people land here, they start complaining about disruption of their family life and demand they be reunited with their families quickly!

They think immigration to Canada is their birthright, not a privilege.

Now, will any politician turn around and honestly tell these people: Nobody forced you to come here, or promised a quick passage into Canada for the rest of your family?

But one can count upon the same politicians to play upon these perceived grievances during election times.

Remember how some candidates in immigrant-dominated ridings in the GTA raised the seniors’ issue for political gain during the last two general elections?

With everybody — from newcomers to lawyers’ groups — shoving the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in our faces at the slightest hint of changing the system, the task of dealing with immigration backlogs and plugging loopholes has become nothing short of a legal minefield for policy makers.

Even applicants with no connections to this country are feeling entitled to “rights and freedoms” under the Charter and are threatening Citizenship and Immigration Canada with legal action for delaying their cases or deleting their files!

Since stories of misuse of the immigration system by refugees, criminals, fraudsters, hijackers and murderers abound, the impression has gone around the world Canada is a doormat and one can force one’s way into this country.

Imagine an applicant (some time ago) threatening to take legal action against Canada for sleeping over his case for “too long”!

The outburst by another foreign applicant, as reported in the media recently, is in keeping with the way Canada is perceived as a “soft” destination by would-be immigrants.

Imagine this individual, a mere applicant with no connections with this country, postponing his family life, marriage and dreams because he was so sure of entry into Canada.

One wonders where in the world can any immigration applicant be one hundred percent sure of success?

Perhaps all those applying for Canadian immigration? At least up until now.

Recent steps by the government to tighten the system are to the good. This country is finally getting real about immigration.

— Singh is a former correspondent with the Times of India and is based in Toronto