Bringing in foreign workers a lengthy, error-prone process

When Chantelle Pinder set out to get a work permit for a personal fitness instructor from Australia, she had no idea of the bureaucratic nightmare she was about to face.

True, personal fitness instructors aren’t all that rare a breed in Canada, but Pinder, HR manager at the Calgary Winter Club, was armed with a year’s worth of applications to make her case. Plus, the woman from Australia was more than just a personal fitness trainer. She was also a swim coach, a lifeguard and a snowboard and skiing instructor.

“She’s got one of those personalities that makes her extremely good at what she does. She knows how to coach people so that they push themselves. A lot of the swimmers here feel that since she’s been here, they’ve been advancing in leaps and bounds.”