Bad news for TFW under food service processing their LMO

[stopDA]

Attagirl,

If gas station have a convenience store where the staff directly working in, then it is affected by recent moratorium. Everything related to food sector job are considered on hold. Just be positive that everything will be fine soon.

regards,

Jenog

If you want the moratorium to be lifted "soon", then your wish has already been granted. Jason Kenney says that he will be finished with his review "soon" and will lift the moratorium "soon". I hope that his definition of "soon" is the same as yours or mine. To me, soon would be within another 2 weeks. To him, it might be months from now. It's a very vague indicator of how long this moratorium will actually last. An audit of the program should only take at most one month, but I could be wrong.

 

[Intocanada]

The last sentence in this article makes so much sense. It says - "We're not talking about french fry cookers, we are talking about cooks that they have studied for that," said Mint.

Read more: http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-restaurateurs-say-temporary-foreign-worker-ban-is-a-mistake-1.1820850#ixzz31h763wAY

 

[stopDA]

Well guys, I just came across two of the new rules that Kenney plans to impose.

1. Pay foreign workers more than Canadians.
2. Putting a limit on how many TFWs a company can hire. This number will be determined by the unemployment rate in the region.

I thought that the 2nd one was already a general rule though. They're also going to put these changes forth within the next "weeks, not months". So, it's a bit of a relief to see that they're working fast. Maybe we won't have to wait past the end of May after all. Personally, I'm not worried about the new changes since my job is in an area of low unemployment and I'm being paid more than average.

 

[RabinJi]

Thanks for sharing good news Mr.Stopda..........

 

[stopDA]

Thanks for sharing good news Mr.Stopda..........

I spoke too soon. Apparently, they're considering a "wage floor" where no foreign workers could be paid below a certain wage. The concept of this "wage floor" might be problematic for the food service industry. It really depends on the wage they choose as the lower limit. Are they going to set this wage to a level that no restaurant can possibly pay? Will it be something like $20-$25 an hour or will it be more like $12- $13 an hour?

 

[beholder69]

Sounds fair and I'm sure it won't be unreasonable. Let's just hope it ends soon

 

[scorpion_ca]

http://www.660news.com/2014/05/15/harper-government-considering-changes-to-temporary-foreign-worker-program/

 

[stopDA]

Sounds fair and I'm sure it won't be unreasonable. Let's just hope it ends soon

Actually, the purpose of the wage floor is to discourage restaurant jobs from applying for LMOs. That's why I'm wondering if they'll set the bar unreasonably high for restaurants. Speaking of which, it seems like they're trying to raise the cost of an LMO to over $2000, the same as that of the US. Now, they're just going overboard with the new fee hike.

 

[Intocanada]

How does this apply for High- Skilled jobs?
How is unemployment rate in BC?

 

[stopDA]

How does this apply for High- Skilled jobs?
How is unemployment rate in BC?

I doubt that these changes will affect high-skilled jobs as much as low-skilled ones. The unemployment rate in BC is 5.8% but it's significantly lower in certain parts of BC. An unemployment rate of 5% or lower is usually indicative of a good economy.

According to Dan Kelly from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, it seems like the government is more likely to cave in to the media pressure and get rid of the program for low-skilled workers. Let's just hope that's not true. All that stuff about new fee hikes, wage floors, etc -- are just ideas. The government was just discussing the matter with different groups like labour unions and business interests in order to determine what should be done. However, they haven't made any final decisions yet. Let's just hope that they finally agree to something that's not too unreasonable to restaurants. However, Dan Kelly seems really disappointed so this probably means trouble for the restaurant industry.

 

[fkl]

I think you have a point but you stay on extremes. I said for many people (like me), there was no Canadian dream - which basically means alone qualifying for PR is of no value. However, given a good job with initially being on twp and latter changed to PR certainly changes the deal. Hence i see a good job as the primary factor although PR has its own value - including the freedom to work any where for any employer etc.

I wasn't aware whether butchers or meat cutters are treated in NOC B, but the very clear approach by Canadian government and logic is, you have lived in the country for at least a year, paid taxes, understood the system and most importantly you already have had a secured job. Doing all this makes one eligible to be at par with Canadian society. This is not comparable with some one (though could be better qualified) but hasn't set food in this country nor made his mark. So to me the approach makes perfect sense and hence was made into a program.

Even if some of those NOCs (Bs) are part of CEC, for the NOC 0 or A, which means they must have worked in the same professions in Canada for a year, the bar gets way higher and such people are far rare compared to those will same skills but no proven Canadian experience.

This last factor is so damn important because Canadians are too obsessed with 'Canadian experience' and there is a long line of horror PR stories where people struggle for a year or more via survival jobs or otherwise to get to bare minimum living.

To some extent i understand the concerns - personally i was quite pissed off seeing the twp program treating all the same whether you are a professor or a caregiver (no disrespect intended) in terms of application processing. Probably similar notions exist for you having been through a much longer and complex PR process - then even after wards going through long hassle of finding reasonable work. But again Canadian government had reasons for those decisions too. It is perfectly legal and more desirable to go via twp + CEC route to PR vs applying and waiting for years in home country, wasting huge amounts of life savings before you finally get a job. Of course the former has it own hardships - finding a good job in Canada where employer is willing to get LMO plus work permit is not a joke either. Just my two cents.

My comments were never aimed directly at any individual TFW, but at the system and CIC itself. The entire program needs to be revamped.

I think if you read some of the other threads on this forum alone, you will see thousands of posts where people are looking to get any job to get to Canada. And, it's definitely not for the wages but solely for the PR status.

Also, the requirements for CEC are nowhere as strict as those for FSW. All you need is 12 months of work experience in Canada, and the program is open to butchers, mechanics, line workers, etc. Compare that to the point system others have to go through and you will find that the vast majority would never actually qualify.

As for nannies, they may not come through CEC but for them, the bar is even lower! To qualify as a nanny, they need a 6 month course (which can easily be faked) and then they need 24 months of work experience in Canada. As I mentioned earlier, I know of several cases where the "work experience" was gained at a relatives house who sponsored them as a live in caregiver. What happened to all the requirements about education, adaptability, work experience, etc. that other immigrants have to go through?

If people aren't looking for the Canadian Dream, then I think the best thing to do would be to eliminate any path to PR for TFW's. I would venture to guess than 90%+ would no longer want to move to Canada if they knew they would have to return home at the end of the term.

 

[keesio]

Actually, the purpose of the wage floor is to discourage restaurant jobs from applying for LMOs. That's why I'm wondering if they'll set the bar unreasonably high for restaurants. Speaking of which, it seems like they're trying to raise the cost of an LMO to over $2000, the same as that of the US. Now, they're just going overboard with the new fee hike.

Yeah, all of this is to discourage low-wage TFWs to the point that restaurants don't want to bother and will try harder to find domestic workers. It won't impact highly skilled ones since they often get paid well and the $2K cost of an LMO is not much compared to the other expenses they spend (salary, moving expenses, signing bonus, etc).

 

[Intocanada]

Yeah, all of this is to discourage low-wage TFWs to the point that restaurants don't want to bother and will try harder to find domestic workers. It won't impact highly skilled ones since they often get paid well and the $2K cost of an LMO is not much compared to the other expenses they spend (salary, moving expenses, signing bonus, etc).

Hopefully, it doesn't apply to the lmo already applied.

 

[stopDA]

Hopefully, it doesn't apply to the lmo already applied.

They haven't exactly made up their minds about these so-called reforms yet. They were just testing the waters earlier this week to see how receptive or repulsive different people be regarding these ideas. But right now, almost everyone is really spooked about the new fee hikes and wage floors. My two biggest worries right now are the fee hikes and the wage floor since my job is in fast food. I hope that the fee hikes don't apply to LMOs that were already pre-approved prior to this ban. I hope that there won't be any fees needed to put names on unfilled LMO positions when this moratorium is over with. Also, I seriously hope that this wage floor isn't implemented. Their policy on TFW wages is already fine as it is, and there don't need to be any more restrictions. Even if they raised their wages, the prices of everything would just go up and then they'll eventually start complaining about wages being too low all over again.

The only legislation that they need to focus on right now are ones directed at punishing, fining and jailing those who abuse the system.

 

[steerpike]

My two biggest worries right now are the fee hikes and the wage floor since my job is in fast food. I hope that the fee hikes don't apply to LMOs that were already pre-approved prior to this ban.

So you dont want more money? No one is going out of business just because they have to raise wages slightly. The did the same scare-mongering before the minimum wage was implemented, but it didn't effect anything. It's just one less gold-plated backscratcher for the owners. They will survive.