Canada announces expansion in Temporary Foreign Worker Units for Ontario and Atlantic Canada

In an effort to improve the temporary foreign workers’ hiring process and make it easier, faster and less costly for Canadian employers, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has announced expansion in the Temporary Foreign Worker Units program for Ontario and Atlantic Canada regions.

These service units were first established in August 2006 for Alberta and British Columbia, and then Quebec, to compliment the long-term labor supply strategy of these provinces. After a few modifications in November 2006, these service units are fully operational now and providing advise to employers in Alberta, B.C., and Quebec having difficulty finding Canadian workers to fill their human resource needs, while continuing to protect the access of Canadian workers to the labor market. These service units introduced the Regional List of Occupations under pressure that significantly cut the recruitment wait time by reducing or removing job advertisement requirements, and developed step-by-step guides for employers while created federal-provincial working groups to identify existing and emerging skill shortages and to find solutions to tackle these shortages.

Currently, two new service units are being established in Ontario (Toronto) and Atlantic Canada (Moncton) to provide facilitation services to employers to hire temporary foreign workers. Like the units in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, the units in Toronto and Moncton will, among other things, (a) provide advice to employers who plan to hire temporary foreign workers; (b) facilitate the entry of workers in certain professions who do not require a visa and verification that there are no Canadians available, such as NAFTA workers and workers with specialized knowledge; (c) make the entry process smoother and more efficient by providing employers with accurate and up-to-date information; (d) pre-screen supporting documents from employers to streamline the application process for such workers; and (e) work with provinces to better meet regional needs.

However, the requests for temporary foreign workers for whom visas are required or who are in other professions would still be directed to Service Canada who render verification or Labor Market Opinion (LMO) against such requests and ensure that job offer is consistent with Canadian wages and working conditions. Subsequent steps may include the issuance of visas and work permits by CIC overseas posts and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

Finally, it should be noted that some jobs do not require a work permit. The units provide advice on those that might qualify for an exemption.

These units are one aspect of the government of Canada’s growing Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which attracted around 125,000 temporary foreign workers in 2007. Recently, government has taken a number of steps to improve this program. The 2007 budget provided $50.5 million, over the next two years, toward measures to further reduce processing delays and to establish mechanisms to monitor employer compliance with the terms and conditions of the program and address non-compliance.