Temporary foreign worker responsibilities Inquiry

[hikkaduwa]

Hi,

I have found out that temporary foreign worker must provide foreign employee's transportation cost from and back to the country of resident and arrange affordable accommodation as per Alberta's work rights. My concern is that my employer is based in BC and if he is entitled for above responsibilities? (my job position is supervisory level, B category )

he hasnt mentioned it on my contract either?

Pls advise?

 

[fkl]

I am sorry, but your question is pretty vague with language mistakes so it is hard to understand what you are trying to ask.

"temp foreign worker" must provide "employee's transportation" ? (Do you mean his own transportation?). If that is correct, then yes you would buy your own ticket. But embassy doesn't ask for any such proof in advance. And on a work permit you are fine to buy a one way ticket so "back to the country", doesn't make any sense to me.

"Employer is ENTITLED?"... If you mean to ask whether it is employer's responsibility to provide ticket, then NO. It vary on a case to case basis. Some employer might offer you this where as others don't. There is no such restriction from CIC. Also even if an employer offers to cover cost of relocation, usually they would pay this after you land in Canada, not before. However, it might appear as something like "joining bonus" on your contract.

I am not sure if your employer is based in British Columbia, why are you referring to Alberta? Province only matters in the sense that employer would apply for LMO to respective administration. If employer is in Quebec, in addition to LMO, he would get you a CAQ too. Then you, the employee would use that CAQ to apply for work permit in your home country.

The work permit regulations are Canada wide, formalized by CIC. Except minor differences like CAQ, it is not specific to province.

However, if the reason is that you intend to LAND in Alberta for some reason, you might need to CLEARLY communicate (and convince) at landing that you are going to work in BC with your offer letter and other details, and make sure they print BC and city on your work permit. You need to have a legitimate reason to land in another city / province as opposed to your work permit. But this can be done and i know of people who did it. E.g. a friend had relatives in Toronto so he landed there with family, left them there for a while, and went to Quebec to start his job in say Montreal (where his employer was, and work permit was for), find a house and then bring over his family. So CIC accepts such a situation.

Hope that helps

 

[scylla]

Hi,

I have found out that temporary foreign worker must provide foreign employee's transportation cost from and back to the country of resident and arrange affordable accommodation as per Alberta's work rights. My concern is that my employer is based in BC and if he is entitled for above responsibilities? (my job position is supervisory level, B category )

he hasnt mentioned it on my contract either?

Pls advise?

There is no such obligation on the employers part. If this is something you want as an employee, then you should have negotiated it as part of your contract.

 

[Pippin]

The OP is Correct, in part. Skill level C D jobs do require the Employer to provide return transportation and health insurance payments until the worker is covered by the provincial programme. This does not apply to OAB skilled jobs. While it sounds good, the employer may get the funds back in various ways, including lower hourly pay than Canadian employees or higher accommodation costs. It can actually work out cheaper for the employee to pay their own transport costs in exchange for paying the same rent and getting same wages as other employees, so it all depends on each case and may not be the great deal it first appears.

 

[hikkaduwa]

The OP is Correct, in part. Skill level C D jobs do require the Employer to provide return transportation and health insurance payments until the worker is covered by the provincial programme. This does not apply to OAB skilled jobs. While it sounds good, the employer may get the funds back in various ways, including lower hourly pay than Canadian employees or higher accommodation costs. It can actually work out cheaper for the employee to pay their own transport costs in exchange for paying the same rent and getting same wages as other employees, so it all depends on each case and may not be the great deal it first appears.

Thanks Pippin,

Does it mean NOC: 6212 -skill level B jobs are not entitled for above facility ?

 

[scylla]

Thanks Pippin,

Does it mean NOC: 6212 -skill level B jobs are not entitled for above facility ?

Correct.

 

[fkl]

Thanks Pippin. That was valuable information. I never knew that.

As i side note i would add something.

Even if you negotiate a relocation allowance or bonus with an employer, the amounts are taxed vigorously. So first ask how would the employer process that amount.

I came to Canada on NOC B and a certain relocation allowance was part of my job offer. But i would receive that along with my first pay.

It was taxed at a rate of around 46% and turned out to be much smaller an amount compared to what i have to spend for relocating to Canada.

It is weird that most of that money goes towards like buying tickets to canada and other stuff. So i ended up paying a lot out of my own pocket.

On the other hand if you could negotiate expenses say company pays for your tickets, get a place for stay initially etc. that is far better.

 

[Pippin]

It is a government requirement for employers to pay these Expenses in lower skilled classes. In higher skill levels I wonder if the employer is able to use these expenses as good tax deductions so may have reasons for funding relocation that way. It doesn't hurt to ask if there are other ways of getting reimbursed.