Dear Editor:
The Board of Directors of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce has a mixed reaction to the changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program recently announced by Employment Minister Jason Kenney and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander.
The immediate lifting of the moratorium on applying for workers is good for the Yorkton businesses relying on the program to augment their much needed work force. However, it appears that many of the concerns expressed by the Yorkton Chamber and the Canadian Chamber to the Federal Government were not heeded. These changes punish all employers and businesses because of the misuse of the program by a few.
The changes to the program are going to create difficulties and financial hardships for local businesses. Increasing the application fee by more than 350% and the addition of another $100 per application, called a Privilege Fee, will prove to be costly for our local businesses.
The reduction in the number of years a temporary foreign worker will be allowed to stay in the country will also be costly for Yorkton employers. Reducing the time an employee can stay in Canada from 4 years to 2 years means that Yorkton businesses will lose well trained employees more quickly. The businesses will then have to apply more often for workers, again contributing to their costs both in terms of application fees and training time.
Limiting the number of temporary workers employed by a business will also have a negative impact on several of the local businesses.
As the province has less than 4% unemployment rate, the changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program will very likely reduce the number of hours some businesses are able to be open during the day and may very well impede the ability of some businesses to grow and expand. The Chamber is disappointed that the growth and expansion of the business community could be so adversely affected.
Sincerely,
Don Rae, President
Yorkton Chamber of Commerce
