Temporary foreign workers will no longer be allowed to apply for low-skilled, low-paid jobs in restaurants, hotels or retail stores in areas where unemployment is higher than six percent. PHOTO: FILE
Canada’s jobs minister unveiled stricter rules for hiring temporary foreign workers Friday after allegations of widespread abuses by employers, such as sidelining Canadians for jobs.
The changes are meant to ensure the foreign worker program is used as intended “as a last and limited resort to fill acute labour shortages on a temporary basis when qualified Canadians are not available,” Employment Minister Jason Kenney said in a statement.
The new rules include more job site inspections, fines of up to Canada $100,000 ($93,000) and jail for employers who abuse the programme. Also, the amount of time a temporary foreign worker can remain in Canada has been halved to two years.
Temporary foreign workers will no longer be allowed to apply for low-skilled, low-paid jobs in restaurants, hotels or retail stores in areas where unemployment is higher than six percent – which is most major cities across Canada.
The latter is meant to encourage hiring of Canadian youth, who as a group are struggling with high unemployment.
Ottawa took action after receiving hundreds of complaints about employers including a trucking firm, restaurants such as McDonald’s, and even banks searching abroad for people to fill jobs in Canada that could have gone to Canadians.
In some cases, Canadians said they lost their jobs to foreign workers.
Kenney reserved particular scorn for the fast-food industry, saying he was “really ticked off” to learn that Canadian applicants were not even considered in some cases, or that new franchises were opened in areas where employers then claimed they could not find local workers to hire.
“That is clearly an abuse,” he said. “You can’t build your business model” around hiring temporary foreign workers.
The foreign worker programme was started in 1973 to bring foreign academics, engineers and other highly-skilled workers to Canada to fill gaps.
The number of foreign workers in Canada jumped to more than 300,000, or 1.5 % of the total labour force, as it was expanded over the past decade to include low-skilled workers.
The restaurant industry suddenly rose to become the top employer of temporary foreign workers last year, before being briefly blacklisted by the government over abuses. The new rules will not apply to farm workers or nannies.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2014.
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COMMENTS (6)
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@John B:
You don't seem to understand some very basic facts. You don't have the entitlement to demand that you be allowed to import workers. The governments have the right to decide whether they want to allow in foreign workers. You are free to hire local citizen or people with valid work permit paying them local wages.
I desist any attempt by any government to tell me whom I can hire and Whom I cannot hire. What next, the government telling an employer that he /she cannot hire an old lady because the youth is unemployed? Or cannot hire a black or Chinese or Pakistani or Indian because a white is employed?
In a free market, if produce /product is global then so is the labor. One cannot say I enjoy the fruits of labor but not labor.
The bias of the Canadian government is very much obvious. They exempt the farm and domestic workers but speak for canadians in other markets. Why discriminate?
All legal migrants have the right to work in any field and in capacity. What is good for Canadian is good for all.
If Canada wants to create more jobs ask their youth to pick up a fork and spade and head to the farms.
Very rational and logical step by PM for the welfare of its own people.
Bravo! This was really needed. Another area of the job market that needs to be nailed is work share. Canadian Projects in mining, Oil and Gas, and other industries are being sent by coorporations to their work share offices in Philippines, India, and china. The reason they give is that they are trying to cut project costs but in reality it is to maximize their profits since the project cost do not change. Most of these jobs are high paying and good for the youth. Another reason coorporations give is that they do not have qualified people which is also not true. Industry minister and Finance minister need to look into this practise and stop Canadian projects from being executed overseas. Such coorporations that do work share should be Taxed more.
This would be a good story for CBC to investigate.
What about driving taxis? Isn't that a high-skilled occupation?
Jason Kenney is doing right things for Canadian Citizens may be ordinary people or political opponent or Immigration consultants don't like that idea, but truth is this he is the brave Leader for Canadians other MP;s doing nothing for citizens else taking money and enjoying them self. I salute him,