Foreign workers get extension on amount of time they stay in Canada

VANCOUVER (CP) - Temporary foreign workers looking to come to Canada to tap into one of the many sectors short of employees can now stay for up to two years. The move was announced by the federal government Friday and extends the program for a year. Nannies and others that come to Canada under the Live-in Caregiver Program will be able to stay for three years and three months, up from a year.

It was cheered by groups who say the Canadian economy will benefit and booed by labour groups who say the government should be doing more to train Canadians for the jobs.

The application process will also be simplified, with application forms becoming available online starting April 1. The process used to be completed through mail-in applications.

The changes are being praised by many in sectors such as tourism, hospitality and construction, which are often short of employees in provinces like Alberta and B.C.

Both provinces are expected to be short 350,000 workers each in the next few years.

Albertje Willems, chief operating officer with K&F Global Partners in Vancouver, said the changes will not only make a difference to foreign workers, but to Canadians and the economy.

Willems' company hires workers from Europe for construction projects in Alberta and B.C.

"There is not a large enough Canadian labour force," she said. "In some areas of Canada, projects are not being completed and sometimes not even being started."

However, not everyone is celebrating the changes.

A B.C. labour group is slamming the move, calling it a gift to employers looking for cheap labour.

Wayne Peppard of the Building and Construction Trades Council said the federal government is failing to protect foreign workers from exploitation and unsafe work conditions.

"The program ensures no responsibility for the treatment of the workers once they arrive in Canada and are put to work," he said.

"When these people come to Canada, many of them don't speak English so they don't know what their rights and responsibilities are and they're completely vulnerable to their employers."

Federal Minister of Human Resources Monte Solberg said if an employer is caught exploiting the program, they will lose the ability to participate.

"There are very few examples of this occurring but when it does occur, it's dealt with quickly and decisively," he said.

Employers will still be required by-law to advertise nationwide before resorting to foreign workers.

Peppard criticized the government for not having enough training programs in place for Canadians.

"Hot economy or no hot economy, there are many ways to accommodate that," he said. "Temporary foreign workers is only one of them."

Peppard suggested employers fly workers in from other provinces rather than other countries.

Philip Hochstein, president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, said no matter how much training is available in this country, Canada will always be short-staffed.

"We're going to have one million job openings between now and 2010 and only 650,000 young people graduating from high school," he said.

"We can't simply train our way out of this thing."

In 2004, more than 90,000 foreign workers came to Canada. The highest number of those came from the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

The highest number of female foreign workers came from the Philippines. The largest percentage of male workers came from the United States.

© The Canadian Press, 2007