Canada's New Government to help employers address labour shortages in Western Canada

VANCOUVER, November 15, 2006

The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada, today announced improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to make it easier for employers in Alberta and British Columbia to hire foreign workers when there are no Canadian citizens or permanent residents available to fill the position.

“Canada’s new government has been listening to employers in Alberta and British Columbia, and they are truly having a hard time finding enough workers,” said Minister Solberg. “The improvements we are announcing today are making it easier, faster, and less costly for employers to hire temporary foreign workers.”

“These new initiatives will assist employers by reducing overall costs and make it two to four weeks faster for employers to hire temporary foreign workers,” said Minister Finley. “They will effectively help employers having difficulty finding Canadian workers to fill their human resource needs, while continuing to protect the access of Canadian workers to the labour market.” The improvements include:

• Regional lists of occupations under pressure. These lists will cut the recruitment wait time for employers. Employers in certain regions who face critical labour shortages may now be eligible to follow shorter, simpler and less costly advertising requirements to recruit the workers they need.
• Providing better information for employers. A step-by-step guide has been developed specifically for employers who need to hire temporary foreign workers. The guide will be useful in all regions of the country.
• Creating federal provincial working groups. Working groups in Alberta and British Columbia will speed the identification of existing and emerging skill shortages and determine the best ways the foreign worker program can help address these shortages.

In addition to these initiatives, Temporary Foreign Worker Units announced in Vancouver and Calgary last August are now fully operational and providing advice to employers seeking to employ temporary foreign workers.

"We welcome these initial measures to help streamline the process of hiring temporary foreign workers and we will continue to work with the federal government on further initiatives to help British Columbia deal with its labour shortage," said Dave Hayer, British Columbia's Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism and Immigration.

Alberta’s Minister of Human Resources and Employment, Mike Cardinal, said he was pleased that this federal initiative is beginning in Alberta. “It complements the province's 10-year labour supply strategy. Alberta employers have been asking for clearer information and quicker processes for recruiting temporary foreign workers - these actions by the federal government are a good step in the right direction.

While Albertans and Canadians will always be given priority, Alberta recognizes the importance of temporary foreign workers to help fill critical short term labour needs.” Canada desperate for experienced tradespeople It is becoming impossible to hire a bricklayer in Canada these days, reports the Montreal Gazette. The critical shortage for bricklayers and many other trades is widespread all across the country.

Britons with trade skills and experience who are interested in Canadian immigration will find there is plenty of work and skilled tradespeople can make hundreds of dollars a day. Canada could be short one million workers by 2020 according to reports.

Trade skills in demand include chefs, horticulturalists, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, auto technicians, industrial tool and die makers to say the least. Canada immigration program to fast track temporary workers. The Human Resources and Social Development (HRSDC) department will add 21 more occupations to a trial program which fast-tracks employer applications to bring foreign workers to Canada under the nation's Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program allows employers to hire foreign workers to fill jobs where an eligible Canadian cannot be found.

Once it has been determined that a Canadian could not be found to fill the position, the employer can make an offer to the foreign national and submits an application for a Labour Market Opinion. The Labour Market Opinion (LMO) is a report to Canadian immigration authorities about the likely impact that hiring the foreign national will have on the labor market. The trial program, called the Expedited Labour Market Opinion project, aims to speed up the LMO process.

The announcement about the trial project was made on Monday by HRSDC Minister Monte Solberg.

His department said that paperwork for many occupations can take up to five months to process; however, under the Expedited Labour Market Opinion trial project, the application process can take as little as five days.