Foreign workers program challenged in court
A husband and wife who own two chain restaurants in Labrador have launched a constitutional challenge against Ottawa’s move to keep them from hiring foreign workers and place their businesses on an online blacklist.
This is the first legal action against the federal government’s revamped temporary foreign workers program since new enforcement measures were brought in to tame public outrage over alleged abuse of the program by Canadian employers.
If the challenge is successful, the federal court could strike down the new measures — which include a ban on hiring foreign restaurant workers in areas with employment above 6 per cent — and force the government to reconfigure how it administers the controversial migrant workers’ program. [Read more…]
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B.C. and China agree to allow foreign workers to help build LNG industry
B.C. and China have inked a new agreement that will see the two governments work to allow foreign workers into the province if needed to help build a liquefied natural gas industry. The provincial government and the People’s Republic of China signed the non-binding memorandum of understanding this week, which pledges co-operation and information sharing to help develop B.C.’s LNG industry. The two sides will “work together with the appropriate authorities to secure and facilitate the entry of foreign workers” in B.C., while “respecting the priority of hiring domestic labour wherever possible,” according to the agreement. [Read more…]Recent Changes To Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program
The highlights of these changes, which now apply throughout Canada except Quebec (with the exception of increased processing fees) are as follows:
- The “Labour Market Opinion” (LMO) is now called a “Labour Market Impact Assessment” (LMIA). Employers must provide more information, such as the number of Canadians or permanent residents who applied for an available job, the number of Canadians and permanent residents interviewed and the reasons why none of them were hired. Employers must also attest that they are aware of the rule that Canadians or permanent residents cannot be laid off or have their work hours reduced at worksites that employ temporary foreign workers.
- The Temporary Foreign Forker Program, which used to have one stream for temporary employment offers that required an LMO application and another for those that were LMO-exempt, is now divided into two [Read more…]
How do you fix a problem like immigration?
The headline is tongue-in-cheek because really, the first step towards “fixing” immigration is to realize the immigration program as a whole, and even our temporary foreign worker program, in part, are not necessarily broken. Yes, there are people who misuse, misunderstand, or downright abuse the system, but a watch isn’t broken because someone forgets to wind it. The temporary foreign worker program just went through a major overhaul geared towards “putting Canadians first” and ensuring Canadians are given the first choice of jobs in Canada and to prevent employers exploiting foreign workers or using foreign workers as a cheaper labour source. This is undoubtedly a good goal. But the steps for achieving this goal must be balanced against the changing needs of business and a global economy. [Read more…]Midway operator says new foreign worker law cost him five Ottawa Valley contracts
It’s been a bad summer for Billy Gordon. The owner of Billy G Amusements has lost his fifth contract to provide midway services to fairs in the Ottawa Valley after what he says have been catastrophic changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program. The latest fairs, in Arnprior and Lombardy, near Rideau Lakes, have both found replacement midway companies. “This is just literally killing me,” Gordon said Friday of his inability to hire foreign workers through the new program. He said he first applied in December and it’s been a back and forth with Service Canada ever since. “I gave them my cheque. I did everything I was supposed to,” he said adding the application fee jumped from $275 to $1,000. The new program puts more pressure on employers to prove they need to hire a foreigner over a Canadian. [Read more…]Industry News
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When: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 to Thursday, October 30, 2014
Where: Metropolitan Conference Centre, Calgary
To Learn more visit: www.CanadianInstitute.com/EFW