The capital of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, has won an exemption from the federal government on the hiring of temporary foreign workers in certain positions.
Regions of Canada with high unemployment rates were excluded from accessing temporary foreign workers in the accommodation, food services and retail trade sectors last June as part of a federal government overhaul designed to address abuse of the system by employers. Regions with unemployment rates above 6 per cent were barred.
While the unemployment rate in the Northwest Territories stands at around 8 per cent, the unemployment rate in Yellowknife alone is comfortably and consistently lower than 6 per cent. As a result, the Northwest Territories government asked that an exemption from the new regulations be made for Yellowknife, a request that was granted this week.
Changes made by the federal government to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program last June compelled employers to make increased efforts to hire Canadiancitizens and permanent residents before resorting to the program, and replaced the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) process with the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). A positive LMIA determines that efforts made by the employer to hire Canadians were unsuccessful, and that the hiring of a temporary foreign worker will have a positive or neutral effect on the local labour market.