Number of foreign workers in Canada tops 338,000
Posted March 7, 2013 11:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The number of temporary foreign workers coming into Canada continues to climb exponentially.
In 2012, 338,000 foreign workers were in Canada, compared to 299,000 in 2011. Alberta alone saw an increase of 10,000 workers over that period.
Five years ago, the total number of people in the country under foreign workers provisions stood at 249,000.
Immigration lawyer Richard Kurland believes Canadian companies will rely less on the program in the future.
“And that’s because of class action suits, the higher political risk, and new concerted action to really and truly provide first crack at these jobs to Canadians,” he says.
The lawsuit he is referring to involved foreign workers and Denny’s Restaurants, which was settled out of court.
The foreign worker program has also stirred up controversy with the hiring of hundreds of Chinese miners to work at a BC mine. Two unions insist the company could have found qualified workers in Canada.
Kurland predicts the use of the temporary workers will also taper off as Canadians demand better wages for jobs they would normally have passed up.
“It becomes a judgment call on whether or not society wants a revolving-door type policy where cheap labour comes in, is not allowed to remain in Canada, and must go out.”
The federal government, meanwhile, is reviewing the temporary foreign workers program. The assessment was launched as unions continue to question whether HD Mining did everything possible to hire Canadians for their northern BC operations.
