Foreign workers a bone of contention

Due to the latest 2013 changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), businesses across Canada are facing criticism for hiring foreign workers while squeezing out domestic help.


"Employers have to advertise to ensure that the domestic labour force can't fill the position," said Kirk Westgard, executive director of Immigration Services. "The program is supposed to be used as a last resort for labour shortages."


In order for a business to hire a TFW, they must first apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO), which is basically a formal request to the government. The conditions to be met before making this application include advertising the position for four weeks and continuing to run ads during the application process. They would also have to pay for the worker's travel fees here and back, assist in finding accommodation, and pay the median wage for the position.


In Humboldt, many of the newcomers come on a work visa through the TFWP and end up working in unskilled positions such as Tim Hortons or Dairy Queen. So why do it then when there's so much cost for the employer?


"It's about retention. If you can get a TFW, their work permit is closed and they're with you until they get permanent residency," said Janine Hart, executive director for the Humboldt Regional Newcomer Center. "You know you have retention of your work force."


In a place like Humboldt where youth are constantly moving on to the next stage of life, the constant staff turnover eventually starts to take its toll in terms of training and resources. Retaining employees for a guaranteed two years (the length of a standard TFW contract) would be hugely beneficial.


"The foreign nationals who come provide a valuable resource for the community," said Westgard. "In critical skill shortages, when there are entry-level vacancies, the TFWP will fill those senior positions it helps build on the labour market."


In other words, according to Westgard, when skilled senior level workers start retiring for example, it leaves vacancies. Hiring skilled TFW fills those vacancies and opens up more opportunities for entry-level workers to gain experience and mentorship from the senior workers.


To help compensate for these shortages, the federal government made it easier for businesses to obtain LMOs in the spring of 2013. As a result, many Canadians criticized the changes and said it would create unemployment for Canadians.
The criticism targets the program on a couple different levels. The first is aimed at the assumption that there even are skill shortages in Canada that the domestic labour can't fill.


"These policy changes occurred even though there was little empirical evidence of shortages in many occupations," said Dominique Gross in a report by the C.D. Howe Institute called, Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada: Are They Really Filling Labour Shortages?


"A successful TFW program thus should encourage employers to attract and train domestic workers for jobs that are permanent so that the labour market exhibits a better balance in the medium term."


The second criticism states that employers are abusing the TFWP in order to hire TFW without first adequately searching for domestic workers or firing those they already have. One particular example of this would be the Brothers Classic Grill and Pizza in Weyburn, which is being investigated for accusations that they replaced two waitresses with TFW.


To address these allegations, the federal government recently made the decision to temporarily suspend the food industry's access to the program.


Tim Hortons Inc. in particular is coming under scrutiny for its employment practices due to the fact that approximately five percent of its work force is made up of TFW. Thus, in response to the recent food sector's restriction, the company released the following statement:


"We are committed to working with the government to make this vital program better, but believe suspending access to responsible users of the program is not an answer to critical labour shortages faced in some markets."


Although the regulations for the program have been tightened since last year, it's apparent that the effects are still lingering, in particular allegations of abuse by restaurant owners. So far, none of those allegations have originated from Humboldt.