Foreign worker changes welcome (Guest commentary)

New application faster and workers can stay longer

On Feb. 23, 2007, Monte Solberg, the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, and Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, announced improvements to the temporary foreign worker program. This program allows employers to fill labour shortages in specified occupations under pressure by employing foreign workers temporarily if the Canadian labour market has been exhausted.

One change to the program includes an online “foreign worker application” or “application for a labour market opinion” (LMO) that becomes functional on April 1. The LMO application is the first step for an employer to hire a foreign worker and has several criteria the company must meet before a temporary worker can start the application for a work permit. First, the employer must have made all efforts to obtain Canadian employees and demonstrated its willingness to train these workers. Second, the company must agree the temporary foreign workers will be compensated similarly to Canadian workers who might have been employed if there was no labour shortage. Third, the company must provide foreign workers with a working environment that meets labour market standards and the employer must show how the hiring of foreign workers will positively influence the Canadian labour market.

According to Finley, the online application will “reduce the time that employers have to wait to get the workers they need.”

Another change that has been made to the program is the lengthening of the stay for temporary foreign workers. Prior to the alterations, foreign workers were only allowed to remain employed in Canada for 12 months and then needed to wait four months before reapplying for temporary employment. Now foreign workers can stay employed continuously for 24 months. Finley said “extending the time workers can stay in Canada provides security and stability to the workers and to the employers.”

Under the old system, many foreign workers were only starting to become comfortable in their jobs after a year and as a result felt they were unable to contribute their full potential prior to terminating employment. With the new changes, employees will now have the ability to realize that potential and the employer will have gained from these contributions by retaining the foreign worker for an extra year. As some companies feel the pressure to fill positions during a labour market drought, Solberg explained that the federal government “is making changes to our temporary foreign worker program to make it faster and easier for Canadian employers to meet their labour force needs.”

However, there are some who do not approve of the modifications made to the program. There are concerns of exploitation of these workers by some employers as described by Wayne Peppard, the executive director of the British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council.

“Foreign workers depend entirely on their employers for fair treatment,” said Peppard. “Without monitoring and enforcement of regulations, foreign workers are vulnerable as a source of cheap labour.”

Peppard suggests that “before we open the door wider, the minister needs to explain how he intends to monitor and enforce visa application commitments and employment standards infractions.”

Two incidents involving temporary foreign workers highlighted this concern. In British Columbia, Costa Rican employees were hired by the Italian-based subcontractor SELI Tecnologie to drill a tunnel for the new Canada Line rapid transit system. The workers were administered federal working permits and it was found that some of them were being paid far below what was signed in their contracts. In addition, the Building and Construction Trades Council noted that enforcement of labour market standards was through self-help. Many of the workers had very little or no knowledge of their rights as employees and the most readily accessible information that could be obtained was by using the Internet. The council pointed out that much of the online information is in English and the Costa Rican workers only spoke Spanish.

Similarly, Maple Leaf Foods recently abandoned its foreign recruiting campaign to fill positions in its Brandon, Man., plant. It was found that several temporary Chinese workers had paid roughly $10,000 to a third-party Canadian immigration consultant whom Maple Leaf hired to recruit foreign workers.

According to Peppard, the changes to the temporary foreign workers program do not address issues of exploitation but may actually heighten them since workers are indentured for a longer period of time. Many employees find their only source to voice concerns is to their employer, but many are reluctant to do so because they are afraid of losing their jobs. However, Solberg mentioned that companies that violate labour market standards will lose their ability to hire temporary foreign workers. The program, when administered properly, may be a viable solution for HR professionals who have unfilled positions in their organizations and cannot find suitable employees in the Canadian labour market.

Dwayne Runke is an HR representative with Alterna Savings/Alterna Bank in Ottawa. He can be reached at (613) 560-0100 ext. 6350 or [email protected].

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