The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada, have recently announced improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. These changes are intended to make it easier, faster, and less costly for employers in Alberta and British Columbia to hire foreign workers to meet current labour shortage demands.

Regional Lists of Occupations Under Pressure
Regional lists of occupations under pressure have been created for Alberta and British Columbia. Employers attempting to recruit individuals from within one of the listed occupational groups may now be eligible to follow shorter, simpler and less costly advertising requirements to satisfy Service Canada of their need to hire a foreign worker.

Although there have been no improvements with respect to the lengthy processing times after a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) application has been submitted, employers can save two to four weeks of recruitment time as well as thousands of dollars in advertising costs as a result of this announcement.

Changes to Recruitment Efforts
Previously, employers were required to produce evidence of comprehensive recruitment efforts in their LMO applications before they would be approved. Employers who wish to hire a foreign national to fill a position on a regional occupations list will now be required to conduct only minimal advertising efforts. However, all other criteria for obtaining an LMO approval must still be satisfied.

If recruiting to fill skilled positions on a regional occupations list, employers will be able to establish appropriate recruitment efforts if they place an advertisement on the Service Canada Job Bank web site for at least 7 days.

However, if recruiting to fill a low skilled position, employers will have the added obligation of demonstrating on-going recruitment efforts via sources such as job internet sites, unions, professional associations, company web sites, professional journals, newspapers, and newsletters.

How We Can Help
If you would like further information on how this recent announcement may benefit your company’s recruitment strategy, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to meet with you to discuss various strategies specifically tailored to satisfying your unique labour shortage needs.