Small Business denounces overhauled Temporary Foreign Worker Program
by Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press
Canadian Federation of Independent Business calls the changes "the most small business-unfriendly move ever made by this government"
OTTAWA—Limits on where low-paid hires can work and strict penalties for companies that fudge their requests for cheap help were denounced by critics who fear the redesigned Temporary Foreign Worker Program would force some employers to close or cut back hours.
“For a government that has made significant strides to reduce the red tape burden on small business, this is a complete 180-degree turn,” said a fiery statement from Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“This change represents a ‘gutting’ of the [Temporary Foreign Workers Program] program for many in the restaurant, hotel and retail sectors and is the most small business-unfriendly move ever made by this government.”
Kenney and Alexander, standing elbow-to-elbow at a news conference that lasted some 90 minutes, billed the changes as a badly needed “overhaul” to ensure temporary foreign workers are brought to Canada as a “last and limited resort.”
“Yes, undoubtedly, there will be some businesses in that sector that end up paring back their operating hours,” he said. “That we fully anticipate,” Kenney acknowledged.
The changes prevent employers in places with high unemployment from applying for temporary foreign workers in the lowest wage and skill groups in the accommodation, food service and retail sectors.
A cap is also being placed on the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers an employer can hire at each worksite: 30 per cent of a worksite’s employees starting immediately, dropping to 10 per cent by July 2016.
Companies will also be required to re-apply each year to hire low-wage temporary foreign workers, instead of every two years. They’ll pay more to administrate each application, too: $1,000 per employee, up from $275.
The added cost will go towards the extra $14 million it is expected to cost Statistics Canada to gather new, more accurate data on jobs and wages.
The changes will significantly reduce the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada and improve labour market information, all the while strengthening enforcement and penalties.
“We’ll severely sanction those who break the rules,” Kenney said
The changes were roundly panned by groups representing employers, employees and immigrants alike.
“Today’s announcement does nothing to change a system that still allows irresponsible employers to exploit workers with impunity,” Paul Meinema of United Food and Commercial Workers Canada said in a statement.
“The Harper Conservatives are only now acknowledging problems with this file because of a number of irresponsible employers.”
Chris Ramsaroop of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change said the new program will do little to end the exploitation of immigrants who do menial, undesirable work in Canada for unjust wages.
“Migrant workers are still employed under an indentured system where they work without voice, without rights and without protections.”
The government also says it will post the number of temporary foreign workers approved every quarter, along with the names of companies that get the green light to hire them, in an effort to enhance accountability.
Employers who hire temporary foreign workers must promise not to lay off any Canadian workers or cut their hours, and they must tell the government how many Canadians applied and were interviewed for jobs, along with why they were not hired, Kenney said.
“We’ll ensure employers re-double their efforts to hire Canadians.”
The program will now be based on provincial wage levels instead of the government’s national occupational classifications. Low wages are defined as anything below the provincial median; high wages are anything above it.
The amount of time a low-wage temporary foreign worker can work in Canada is being reduced to a cumulative total of two years from four years.
Canadian firms are using the program more and more to fill both high- and low-skilled positions, despite relatively high levels of unemployment and data showing that the ratio of unemployed to job vacancies is rising.
A recent government calculation estimated there were 386,000 temporary foreign workers in Canada, or about two per cent of the labour force, up from about 100,000 in 2002.
