CANADIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Temporary Workers May Squeeze out Skilled Workers

Tuesday, 28 July 2009

A new study argues that despite bringing in temporary foreign workers at a near-record pace during recession, Canada’s immigration policy's increasing focus on filling jobs will hamper the economy over time by squeezing out qualified permanent immigrants.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the sharp recession that struck Canada in late 2008 has hardly put a damper on employers' requests for temporary foreign workers in the first half of 2009, nor have new restrictions, such as a requirement that all jobs be advertised in Canada first, imposed by the government this spring.

A record 193,000 temporary foreign workers received Canadian work permits last year to fill labour shortages - 80,000 more than came in 2004 - as Ottawa expanded the intake to respond to employers' demand for staff.

"I expected to see a decline, but I was quite surprised to actually see demand for temporary foreign workers steady in the first quarter of this year, and down only slightly in the second quarter," Minister Kenney said in an interview.

Mr. Kenney said the numbers of temporary workers are not expected to squeeze out people recruited as permanent skilled workers, but that more highly skilled temporary workers will eventually stay.

An immediate job allows many immigrants to hit the ground running and have a better shot at success, he said.

As the study sponsored by Toronto’s Maytree Foundation has revealed, an increasing number are coming as temporary workers or foreign students, some hoping to stay, while the number of those recruited permanently as skilled workers has stayed flat.

In 2008, for the first time, the combined numbers of temporary workers and foreign students, 272,520, surpassed the number of new permanent residents, 247,202. However, there are now more ways for them to stay under provincial programs or a new Canadian Experience Class program.

In the first six months of 2009, Canada issued 95,060 work permits for specific jobs - almost half of last year's record total, though 9,000 less than in the first half of 2008. Statistics don't yet show why demand remained high as unemployment rose from 6.2 per cent a year ago to 8.6 per cent last month, or how many temporary foreign workers already in Canada have been thrown out of work.

Although many workers come under categories such as nannies and seasonal farm workers statistics for 2005 to 2007 show large increases in trades like carpenters, welders and pipefitters, and, especially in Alberta, unskilled labourers such as meatpackers, food-plant workers and kitchen staff.

Those who lose jobs can stay in Canada until their work permits run out, often two years, and usually they aren't eligible for employment insurance. They can only take a job from another employer who has convinced the government that it faces a labour shortage.

Mr. Kenney said the government has taken steps to better align immigration to the job market, and many companies would have gone out of business without temporary workers.

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