Employment Minister Jason Kenney issued a statement last Thursday announcing the suspension of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program following allegations of abuse of the program in the food services sector. Communities with seasonal employment opportunities such as Fernie may be hit the hardest with Kenney’s action.
The action stemmed from complaints of disenfranchised employees at three McDonald’s chains in Victoria BC, claiming they were replaced by foreign workers. Tim Horton’s recently ended its relationship with the franchisee in Fernie and Blairmore after coming under fire last fall from the Employment Standards Branch in an investigation over mistreatment of temporary foreign workers. With the immediate moratorium of the program, Kenney also stated, “ESDC will not process any new or pending LMO applications related to the food services sector. In addition, any unfilled positions tied to a previously approved LMO will be suspended.”
The action has evoked mixed reactions, specifically in BC and Alberta, as the two provinces together have employed more foreign workers than the rest of the country combined since 2007. Since then, the unemployment rates in these respective provinces have increased by 4%. However, cases have since arisen where the impact of the suspension has clearly had negative effects. Restaurants in Calgary that have relied on the program are struggling with recruitment with a labour force that is devoted predominately to the oil and gas industry.
So what does this mean for Fernie? The town consistently sees large influxes of people in peak seasons and many are not Canadian citizens. A large portion of employment opportunities in town is also in some way tied to the food and beverage sector. Temporary work is often commonplace with the seasonal flow of employees.
Local restauranteur Claude Perrault, owner of CP Catering including the Fernie Golf and Country Club Clubhouse Restaurant and Bridge Bistro said, “It’s difficult to recruit employees in town and that the program is an important tool in dealing with staffing issues”. In time, he believes the suspension of the program may thus have a negative impact on local businesses.
On the positive side, with the many attractions in the area, the labour pool in Fernie continues to grow. With services such as EK Employment, job seekers and employers are assisted in the hiring and retaining process. At the moment, there is an abundance of opportunity with 95 postings on the website.
Looking for employment/employees? Visit the WorkBC EK Employment Elk Valley office at 302 2nd Ave, or check out the website for postings: ekemployment.org/
Sources:
CBC
The National Post
The Vancouver Sun
