Effective 1st May, restrictions on the hiring of temporary foreign workers have been lifted by the government of Alberta.
All pending applications are subject to this change including those applications which are submitted before 1 May.
It is said in a provincial statement that this decision will support that sector of Alberta’s economy who are facing a shortage of labor and struggling to fill available designations with workers from Canada.
The latest data from Canada shows that there were more than 88,000 job vacancies available in Alberta in February.
Before the change, the government of Canada had a list of “refusals to process” in which those occupations are included for which employers are not able to submit an application to the government of Canada for hiring foreign workers in the province.
The temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is run by the government of Canada and on the advice of the Government of Alberta was refusing to process TFWP applications for occupations that are on the list.
It is said by Alberta that the effects of the change will be monitored and also make required adjustments to make sure that TFWP continues to benefit its economy.
The aim of the TFWP is to enable Canadian employers to hire National workers to requirements when they are not able to find a citizen of Canada or permanent resident to work. An employer needs to submit their application for LMIA (Labour Market Assessment) to the government of Canada.
Through the TFWP many foreign workers are allowed to work in Canada in many sectors such as:
- Manufacturing
- Agriculture
- Food and Accommodation
- Health care
- Retail Trade
It will be assessed by the government of Canada that hiring foreign workers will give a positive impact on the labor market of Canada. A proof will be provided by the employer that usually shows that there are no qualified Canadian workers available. The foreign worker may proceed and submit a work permit application to IRCC, after submitting the affirmative LMIA.
Nationally, Canada is facing a labor shortage nationwide, with more than 800,000 job vacancies. The federal and provincial government gives eased their rules, because of these relaxing rules employers can recruit more foreign talent to complement the labor market of Canada. In April Canada announced that it relaxed its TFWP rules on foreign workers.
