Labour groups are calling for looser restrictions on temporary foreign workers in order to boost workplace safety.
Alberta has set out to provide more protections for workers hired from other nations after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ottawa on a future agreement that calls for closer scrutiny of hiring and workplace-safety practices. Other provinces are expected to follow suit.
But labour groups say such pacts would not be necessary if temporary foreign workers could change employers if they do not find the first job to their liking. Union leaders say current rules require temporary foreign workers to remain with the companies that bring them to Canada through provincial programs.
"Temporary foreign workers are particularly vulnerable to abuse because of their dependence on the employer," says Andrew Jackson, chief economist for the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).
There were 171,844 temporary foreign workers living in Canada last year - a 122-per-cent increase from a decade ago. Temporary foreign workers entering Canada account for an estimated 50 per cent of the total, while the rest enter using exemptions under NAFTA or other trade agreements, on student visas or as spouses.
The provincial nominee program (PNP) allows provinces and territories to fast-track applications for entry to Canada to help offset skilled-labour shortages, which are expected to become more acute as Baby Boomers retire. The programs have been credited with boosting labour supply in smaller markets, such as Manitoba, that have difficulty attracting immigrants.
Ontario (44.7 per cent), B.C. (21.7 per cent), Alberta (13.5 per cent) and Quebec (13.1) employ the vast majority of Canada's foreign temps.
The federal-Alberta crackdown comes after two Chinese temporary foreign workers were killed and four others injured earlier this year while working at a Canadian Natural Resource Ltd. (CNRL) project in the oilsands near Fort McMurray. Labour leaders say the deaths defied the excellent safety standards of major oil and gas producers such as Suncor, Syncrude and even CNRL.
But the CLC's Jackson says provincial employment standards often exclude temporary foreign workers such as domestics and farm workers. He criticizes the Ontario government for resisting efforts by seasonal foreign mushroom farmers to unionize after a Supreme Court of Canada decision ruled a provincial law prohibited their right to do so.
"One thing (Ottawa) could do is not issue permits to employers to hire temporary farm workers unless they're satisfied that the provincial government is enforcing labour standards," says Jackson.
But, he adds, the Ontario government has increased its efforts recently to monitor employers and make employees more aware of standards.
"If workers are going to be effectively protected, the two key lines of defence are union representation or protection of the legislated employment standards," says Jackson.
James Leland, business manager for Ironworkers Local 97 in Vancouver, says unions welcome temporary foreign workers and they should be allowed to change employers if they do not find conditions satisfactory.
"If they were able to change contractors, they would go where the work is safest, where the pay is best and where the conditions are best - according to their ability," says Leland. "Any other deal is just more bureaucratic red tape."
The fact that Ottawa and the Alberta government would have to introduce more protections points to a problem, he adds.
Leland also contends foreign temps constitute a "captive workforce" that is being used to keep pay expectations down.
"When they come in, they can only work for that company," he says. "For us to get them over to another company, it takes about two months - all kinds of paperwork.
"If the guy is working there and they're treating him shabby, and I have a contractor that will treat him decently, he cannot go and work for him. The Chinese worker is not going to be allowed to stray outside that fence."
Under PNPs, employers must prove that they have not been able to hire Canadians for positions filled by international employees, and pay salaries on par with locals.
But Leland says his union put in 100 applications for its members on the Golden Ears Bridge project, a public-private partnership in the Greater Vancouver area, but "not one guy got a call."
"And yet (contractors) keep saying they had to go overseas to get ironworkers," says Leland.
But Daniel Hirschkorn, a Saskatoon-based consultant who recruits foreign workers for Saskatchewan- and Alberta-based companies, says Service Canada ensures that temporary foreign workers receive the same pay as their Canadian counterparts and no Canadians are available for jobs advertised.
Once hired from overseas, workers go through training and orientation at the jobsite. Companies will make sure English levels are high enough so that there are no miscommunication issues, he adds.
"Saskatchewan employers, the ones I've talked to, they have a whole package in place when foreign workers come here," says Hirschkorn. "They make sure that communication is there (and) understanding is there.
"Unfortunately, people die at job sites all the time. They happen to be foreign workers who died (in the oilsands.) But I wonder if there's more media (attention) around (the incident) because they are foreign workers."
Hirschkorn believes provincial nominee programs are "visionary" and make sense, but he also endorses the idea of a national program designed to improve temporary foreign worker safety. Businesses must bear most of the responsibility for safety, because there's "only so much" that governments can do.
"With this day and age of Internet, it's a small world," he adds. "If people are hearing that foreign workers are coming here and (Canada has) unsafe working conditions, people will just quit coming. So it's a good idea for everyone involved to ensure that regulations are in place and (there is) a safe work environment."
The MOU between Alberta and Ottawa, announced July 9, calls for the two Tory governments to share information on workers hired from other countries to ensure temporary employment programs meet the needs of workers and employers.
Ottawa also plans to introduce tougher measures designed to monitor the hiring of temporary foreign workers and curb fraud. Potential penalties companies could face include refusal of future requests for more international temps.
But Gordon Christie, executive secretary for the Calgary and District Labour Council, predicts the Alberta-Ottawa deal will not make a difference. He says the governments must look at Canada's safety record for all workers - not just foreign temps.
Of all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, only Italy has a worse job accident and death rate than Canada and all the English-speaking industrialized countries, says Christie.
Alberta traditionally ranks near the top of workplace death and accident totals, behind perennial frontrunner Ontario.
Christie says Alberta workplace deaths have declined slightly to about 120 per year from 155 two years ago.
"It's kind of a joke when we see what has been happening for decades here," he says. "Now, we bring in foreign workers who are really indentured labour."
Citing federal figures, the Alberta Federation of Labour reports the province welcomed more temporary foreign workers than immigrants through the mainline entrance program last year.
As of last Dec. 1, there were 22,392 temporary foreign workers in Alberta, compared to 20,717 immigrants granted permanent residence status.
It marks the first time that Alberta's temps have outnumbered traditional immigrants.
There were 74,275 temporary foreign workers in Ontario as of last December, compared to 125,914 immigrants granted permanent residence status.
British Columbia recorded 36,210 temps with 42,079 traditional immigrants. Saskatchewan welcomed 2,266 foreign temp workers and 2,724 new permanent immigrants, while Manitoba had 3,494 temporary workers with 10,051 people granted permanent residence status.
Christie says a survey conducted by a Calgary coalition of unions found most of the city's temporary foreign workers are employed in the food-service industry and earn only $9-$10 per hour on average, while most receive minimum wage.
"Absolutely, there have to be (temporary foreign worker protection) measures nationally," he says. "Everything helps."
He says Alberta has had temporary foreign worker programs for the past 40 years, but they are now used on a much larger scale.
All workers should be treated with dignity and respect regardless of where they're from, he adds.
"We should all have the same equal opportunities (and) benefits," says Christie. "Instead of temporary foreign workers, we should be looking at immigration."
(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)
