Temporary Foreign Worker Program Review of Issues for the Residential Construction Industry

1
Temporary Foreign Worker ProgramReview of Issues
for the Residential Construction Industry

• Presentation to the National Education and
  Training Advisory Committee
• June 6, 2008

2
Changes in the Context New Opportunities?

• More provincial responsibility
• More flexibility for eligible occupations
• Fewer restrictions on numbers
• New money to improve processing

3
Recent Developments

• New federal-provincial immigration agreements
• Length of time that temporary foreign workers can
  stay in Canada increased from 12 to 24 months in
  February 2007
• Temporary Foreign Worker Units set up in
  Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal (2006) and Toronto
  and Moncton (2008)
• Budget 2007 provided increased funding for the
  Temporary Foreign Worker Program
• Opportunities to move from temporary to permanent
  status e.g., Canadian Experience Class
• Introduction of regional lists of occupations
  under pressure that reduce documentation
  requirements relating to recruitment efforts of
  employers

4
Recent Developments British Columbia and
Alberta

• Electronic Labour Market Opinion (E-LMO) Pilot
  Project introduced in British Columbia and
  Alberta in September 2007 and expanded in January
  2008 to speed up application processing
• CHBA - Alberta actions on hiring foreign workers
• Alberta Temporary Foreign Workers Qualification
  Certificate Program

5
Are these changes making a difference?

• Little evidence so far about impacts of program
  changes on the residential construction industry
• No evidence yet about the impacts of the
  Electronic-Labour Market Opinion (E-LMO) Pilot
  Project

6
Key Gaps for Residential Construction Industry

• Information about the Temporary Foreign Worker
  Program application processing system and the
  roles of different government agencies
• Support for small and medium-sized firms
• Recognition of the characteristics of the
  residential construction industry
• Recognition of skills shortages in the
  residential construction industry

7
Problems Program Design

• Complexity
• Mobility
• Multi-employer applications
• Recognition of residential construction trades

8
Problems Program Administration

• Timing Speed of the application process
• Lack of industry input into lists of occupations
  under pressure
• Rapid change

9
Other Problems

• Under current rules, employers must allocate
  significant human resources (HR) to navigate the
  system
• Smaller companies can apply collectively for
  example, through an industry-based organization
  but this increases the complexity of application
  processing

10
Industry Challenges

• No history of using the Temporary Foreign Worker
  Program
• Costs of hiring a foreign worker
• Administrative / human resources capacity
• Resistance to foreign workers from some parties

11
Questions / Topics for discussion

• What recommendations does NETAC have for changes
  that need to be made to the Temporary Foreign
  Worker Program to make it work better for the
  residential construction industry?
• What representations need to be made to federal
  and provincial governments to make improvements
  to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program?
• What could the residential construction industry
  do to make better use of the program e.g.,
  provide support to companies (like CHBA-Alberta)
  develop mechanisms to support multi-employer
  applications?