jes_ON: Even a fast-food shift manager is skilled. Call-centre tech support is skilled. There are a lot of jobs that are skilled that don't pay too well.
Hi Leon, yes, I'm aware of this, rate of pay is not a good yardstick. There are a lot of jobs that are equally "skilled" that are classified as C level, too
It will be interesting to see the pending NOC revisions...
However, I think you are right, if there is a doubt that the occupation is skilled or fits better with a low skilled NOC, the wage difference will not help. On the other hand, there is also a discrepancy sometimes in how much Service Canada thinks the employer should pay and how much the going rate is in that area. If the employer is usually paying Canadians $12 for the same type of work, why should he hire a foreigner and pay them $13?
I haven't researched the occupation (still not sure what it is), and don't know the location, but the OP stated that $13 was the minimum (not average) wage. Currently, HRSDC (not necessarily CIC) is looking to ensure that foreigners are paid the average wage. It sounds like the OP started as a student worker, tho, and that sounds like a student wage (that's what UG students are paid on my campus); s/he could possibly re-negotiate with degree in hand...
Why pay a foreigner more than a Canadian? If you want to keep a valued employee, foreigner or Canadian doesn't matter; if it costs more to train a new employee; etc. Of course some employers don't care, presumably the turnover in that case doesn't hurt the bottom line...