Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen went all the way to Ottawa last week to voice Banff’s concerns about the federal government’s moratorium on hiring temporary foreign workers for restaurant jobs.
Sorensen shared the concerns of the local tourism industry, which says the government’s decision fails to recognize the unique labour shortages in parts of the country and unfairly treats compliant businesses the same way as those who violate program policy.
The mayor said she met with federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney’s chief of staff last Friday (May 9) to let them known how the moratorium will affect Banff, which relies on temporary foreign workers, particularly given labour shortages.
“I was assured the process would take weeks, not months,” she said.
The government’s temporary ban in April followed a fresh series of abuse allegations of the controversial temporary foreign worker (TFW) program, which was originally designed to address shortages of skilled workers, not attract menial labour or push Canadians out of jobs.
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) will not process any new or pending Labour Market Opinions (LMO) applications related to the restaurant sector, and any unfilled positions tied to a previously approved LMO will be suspended.
An LMO assesses the likely effect that hiring a temporary foreign worker will have on the Canadian labour market and is required in some cases to complete a work permit application. Not all temporary foreign workers require an LMO.
The ESDC has been made aware of some serious allegations of abuse of the program. Some foreign workers claimed they have been treated like slaves, while Canadians have said they lost their jobs to workers hired under the program.
In many cases, temporary foreign workers don’t talk because they fear repercussions.
Hundreds of Canadian companies and government departments employ temporary foreign workers, but there has been an especially dramatic increase in the number of hotels and restaurants accessing the program.
In Banff, the number of temporary foreign workers peaked in 2009 at 1,760. Of those, 485 were temporary foreign workers with LMOs.
