![]() Quebec seeing rise in injured temporary foreign workers hired to fill labour gaps.The Tim Hortons head office sent a statement confirming some of its restaurant owners have hired temporary foreign workers as a way to mitigate post-pandemic labour disruptions, and it noted that the Canmore franchise owner - who runs four restaurants in the area - also offers subsidized housing and transportation for his employees. None of the businesses listed above agreed to an interview with CBC News, though the general manager of the Rimrock Resort Hotel said his business is "pro the program." 2022994 Alberta Ltd., a Tim Hortons franchisee, with 34 positions.K S Somers Enterprises Ltd., a McDonald's franchisee, with 73 positions.Of businesses with head offices in Canmore (some of whose workers may be based elsewhere), those with the highest number of approvals were: FHR Banff Operations Corporation, the company behind the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel, with 30 positions.Rimrock Resort Hotel, with 40 positions.Banff Caribou Properties Ltd., with 120 positions. ![]() (Paula Duhatschek/CBC)īanff-based businesses with the highest number of approvals were: Karli Fleury of the Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association says the federal Temporary Foreign Worker program provides 'stability' in the region's workforce. The government's definition of a low-wage position is one that is below the provincial or territorial median hourly wage. The uptick in approvals came after the federal government raised the cap on how many temporary foreign workers a business could hire for low-wage positions, increasing it from 10 per cent to 20 per cent of a company's total workforce.Īs of last spring, sectors with "demonstrated labour shortages," including accommodation and food services, can hire up to 30 per cent of their staff through the program. Some see the recent changes as a necessary move to help shore up staffing levels post-pandemic, while others view it as a step in the wrong direction for Canada's economy. This marks a shift in federal practice from 2014, when a backlash against the TFW program prompted Ottawa to overhaul it, setting limits on how many temporary foreign worker positions a business could hire and making it more difficult for them to do so. Temporary foreign worker overhaul imposes limits, hikes inspections. ![]() "These numbers parallel some of the numbers we saw in the early 2000s, which is when the big temporary foreign worker boom was in Alberta and Canada." " kind of jaw-dropping," said Jason Foster, an associate professor of human resources and labour relations at Athabasca University in Alberta. This doesn't mean all approved positions were necessarily filled by temporary foreign workers, but experts say the size of both the requests and the approvals is significant. In Banff, that number more than tripled to 454 positions, up from 141 in 2019. That's more than double the 98 positions approved in 2019, the next-highest year on record. In Canmore, 237 positions were approved, according to data from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Under the program, employers in Canada can hire foreign workers to fill temporary jobs when qualified Canadians aren't available. ![]() Last year, businesses in the Bow Valley communities were cleared to fill more positions through the federal Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program than at any point since 2015, the earliest year for which data is available. Faced with a pandemic-induced labour shortage, businesses in the Rocky Mountain tourist hot spots of Banff and Canmore, Alta., have been given the green light to dramatically boost the number of temporary foreign workers they hire to fill low-wage positions. ![]()
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