Foreign workers program halted for food services
OTTAWA— Employment Minister Jason Kenney is suspending the food services sector’s access to the controversial Temporary Foreign Workers Program in the face of widespread criticism.
He says a moratorium is being imposed on any new or pending applications related to the food services sector.
A statement from Kenney says the moratorium will remain in place pending a government review of the program and allegations of abuse.
The announcement comes on the heels of a report by the C.D. Howe Institute that is harshly critical of the program, saying it has spurred joblessness in Western Canada.
The C.D. Howe study says making it easier for employers to hire temporary foreign workers has accelerated the rise in jobless rates in B.C. and Alberta.
“These policy changes occurred even though there was little empirical evidence of shortages in many occupations,” wrote the report’s author, economist Dominique Gross.
“When controlling for differences across provinces, I find that changes to the TFWP that eased hiring conditions accelerated the rise in unemployment rates in Alberta and British Columbia.”
Fast-food giant McDonald’s already announced it was freezing its participation in the program after it found itself in hot water over a franchise in Victoria that hired temporary foreign workers.
In Winnipeg on Wednesday, Kenney warned that employers who abuse the program could face fraud charges and possible jail time. He said the federal government believes the number of abusers is small, but penalties can be strong.
“If an employer lies on their application for this program ... that could constitute fraud, potentially, under the Immigration Act, which is a criminal offence punishable with jail time or very severe penalties,” Kenney said.
“We’re putting, I think, the small number of abusive, bad employers on notice that we won’t tolerate that.”
The program is supposed to be used when there are no local residents available for job openings.
Kenney said a bill now before Parliament would make it easier to impose administrative penalties on employers who break the rules.