By Sheila Pratt, Edmonton Journal | Link to Article
When some Canadian fast-food workers in British Columbia found themselves replaced by temporary foreign workers, a long-simmer battle between business and labour hit the headlines in 2014.
By Sheila Pratt, Edmonton Journal | Link to Article
When some Canadian fast-food workers in British Columbia found themselves replaced by temporary foreign workers, a long-simmer battle between business and labour hit the headlines in 2014.
A major debate over Canadian values — and who gets jobs — gripped the public across Alberta, where the labour shortage in the booming economy is well-known.
Businesses were adamant foreign workers were needed to keep the economy strong and keep businesses competitive, while unions raised the spectre the program was lowering wages and critics said it was creating a permanent underclass with few rights and little chance of being able to stay in Canada permanently.
Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney was caught in the crossfire, especially in his home province of Alberta, which has the highest per capita use of the program in Canada. (There were almost 85,000 temporary foreign workers here in early 2014.)
As the outcry grew, Kenney was forced to act. In April, he slapped a temporary moratorium on use of TFWs in the fast-food industry. Two months later, he announced new restrictions to ensure TFWs are “only as a last and limited resort.”
The government limited the use of unskilled workers in areas of higher unemployment, capped the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers an employer can hire, raised the fees to $1,000 per employee from $275 and required companies to reapply every year instead of every two years for workers.
By September, Kenney said the reforms had brought about a 75 per cent reduction in the number of applications for temporary foreign workers.
But the battle is not over. Unions raised evidence this fall that skilled trades jobs are also being taken over by TFWs who are paid less than Canadians.
Meanwhile, Alberta employers and the provincial government continue to push reopen the doors to unskilled labour, especially in the fast food industry which warned of reduced service if workers can’t be found. McDonald’s noted that prior to the new rules, only four per cent of its 85,000 employees nationwide were temporary foreign workers — but in Alberta, they made up 23 per cent of its employees.
Alberta is also pushing for the federal government to increase the number of skilled foreign workers who can apply to stay permanently in Canada, arguing the province will be critically short of workers in the coming years.
So far, Kenney stands firmly behind his new restrictions, even in Alberta.
“We need to encourage the unemployed and those who are no longer looking for work and we need to see permanent resident immigration increase in Alberta,” said Kenney.