Recommendation 1
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada
maintain the current Temporary Foreign Worker program, possibly enhanced by the
recommendations of this report, in order to fill labour needs that are of a
temporary nature, such as labour needs that are seasonal or likely to be of a
cyclical nature.
Recommendation 2
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada create
a temporary foreign worker advisory board comprised of various stakeholders to
provide it with periodic feedback and recommendations. The advisory board
should be given a broad mandate, including on-going monitoring, oversight, and
review of the temporary foreign worker programs.
Recommendation 3
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada
initiate dialogue and facilitate cooperation with the provinces and
territories, so that the temporary foreign worker and provincial nominee
programs function together smoothly to provide a pathway to permanent
residency.
Recommendation 4
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada provide
for a possible one-year extension of the three-year period during which a
live-in caregiver must complete 24 months of employment in order to be eligible
to apply for permanent resident status, when there is a good reason the live-in
caregiver did not complete the employment requirements within the initial
three-year period.
Recommendation 5
The Committee recommends the implementation of the "Juana
Tejada Law" which would exempt live-in caregivers from the second medical
exam when they apply for permanent residence.
Recommendation 6
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada create
a path to permanent residency for all temporary foreign workers modeled on the
opportunity currently available to live-in caregivers.
Recommendation 7
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada mandate
the proposed temporary foreign worker advisory board to include family
separation in its monitoring.
Recommendation 8
The Committee recommends that the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Regulations be amended so that accompanying immediate family
members of persons with a temporary work permit are automatically eligible for
an open work permit.
Recommendation 9
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada work
with provincial and territorial governments, with input from other
stakeholders, to develop and maintain a list of occupations for which it has
been determined that there is a bona fide labour shortage in the
province or territory, and therefore in respect of which employers may hire
temporary foreign workers.
Recommendation 10
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada make
provincial and territorial lists of occupations experiencing labour shortages
publicly available, including on the Internet, as well as the methodology used
to arrive at that determination.
Recommendation 11
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada welcome
stakeholder input in making labour shortage determinations. It should
facilitate an Internet-based system through which stakeholders may provide
observations or suggestions relevant to changing or making a labour shortage
determination and thereby modifying the list of occupations experiencing labour
shortages. The Government of Canada should:
- post
all observations and suggestions it receives for the public to see;
- consider
all observations and suggestions; and
- provide
a public response in relation to all observations and suggestions detailing how
such information is, will be or will not be taken into account, and why.
Recommendation 12
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada modify
the Labour Market Opinion process currently followed to include:
- verifying
that the occupation for which the employer wishes to hire is included on the
list of occupations for which it has been determined that there is a bona
fide labour shortage in the province or territory; and
- assessing
the same employer- and job-specific criteria currently checked in relation to
the LMO process.
Positive determinations on both steps would lead to the
issuance of a “hiring permit” for the employer (rather than a positive or
neutral LMO, as is the current terminology.)
Recommendation 13
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada
automatically approve an application for a “hiring permit” if the application
is certified to be substantially the same as a prior application that was
approved, and no relevant factors have changed.
Recommendation 14
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada provide
for electronic “hiring permit” extensions.
Recommendation 15
The Committee recommends that all approved “hiring permits”
have expiry dates. Six months may be an appropriate validity for a “hiring
permit.”
Recommendation 16
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada
maintain, on a voluntary basis, a list of all employers who have received
“hiring permits,” and that information from the list be available for use by
unemployed temporary foreign workers in Canada, and those helping them, in identifying
employers seeking to hire temporary foreign workers.
Recommendation 17
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada modify
the information it provides to employers and the public at large on the topic
of the temporary foreign worker programs (including websites and print
information) to make it easier for people to find the lists of current
prevailing wage rates and to clarify that “hiring permit” applications will be
rejected if they indicate a wage rate that does not equal or exceed the
prevailing wage rate.
Recommendation 18
The Committee recommends that, in relation to the lists of
current prevailing wage rates, the Government of Canada disclose the method of
arriving at each rate, including the statistics relied upon.
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Recommendation 19
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada
establish a process by which stakeholders may provide input on any method used
to arrive at a prevailing wage rate, and receive a response to their comments
from the Government of Canada. The process may be Internet-based, and should be
simple, public and obvious.
Recommendation 20
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada
discontinue making work permits of temporary foreign workers employer-specific,
and that it make such work permits sector- and province-specific instead. Where
there is a change of employers, employers should be able to claw-back the
recruitment and associated costs from subsequent employers to earlier employers
on a pro-rated basis.
Recommendation 21
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada levy a
fee on employers in connection with issuing “hiring permits” in order to fund a
pool of money for emergency support of unemployed temporary foreign workers in
Canada. It should also establish guidelines for disbursements from the pool.
Recommendation 22
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada require
each temporary foreign worker candidate to attend an in-person orientation
session in his or her country of origin prior to the work permit being issued,
and that NGO/non-profit settlement, counselling and advocacy agencies
regularly provide input to the orientation session.
Recommendation 23
The Committee recommends that temporary foreign workers be
required, within three months of their arrival, to meet with an accredited NGO
to follow up on labour legislation compliance.
Recommendation 24
The Committee recommends that the government take all
necessary steps to inform workers abroad of the legal provisions regarding
recruiters in the province in question.
Recommendation 25
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada use the
Internet and other means to make the following information readily available to
employers who hire temporary foreign workers:
- a
warning about unscrupulous recruitment agencies and descriptions of the shady
practices in which they may engage;
- information
about countries in which such problems are particularly acute;
- a
statement of best practices against which an employer may judge the practices
of a recruitment agency the employer is considering engaging; and
- information
about employers’ or employees’ liability for fees charged by recruitment
agencies to the workers it places.
In addition, the website should provide an open forum in which
employers can “meet” to pool resources and share experiences.
Recommendation 26
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada produce
simplified management guides enabling employers and recruiters to better
understand the applicable standards, regulations and the administrative terms
and conditions of the program, such as the prohibition to withhold personal
documents, particularly passports and health cards of migrant workers.
Recommendation 27
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada refer
appropriate cases of abuse by recruitment agencies to law enforcement agencies,
the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, or provincial law societies
for prosecution or discipline under existing legal provisions, and that it
encourage employers, workers and other stakeholders to do the same.
Recommendation 28
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada
establish monitoring teams to perform unannounced spot checks of working and
housing conditions on temporary foreign worker job sites. Visits of the
monitoring team could be requested by workers through a 1-800 number or via the
internet. Possible infractions or unacceptable conditions should be reported to
appropriate provincial authorities for further investigation and response. The
Government of Canada would place a stay on removals for individuals involved in
an ongoing investigation and/or with matters before the courts or other
appropriate bodies.
Recommendation 29
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada deny an
employer future access to workers for a period of at least one year and for a
period of five years in repeated or egregious cases if the employer violated
provincial labour standards, the terms of (an) employment agreement(s) or
provincial recruitment provisions.
Recommendation 30
The Committee recommends that the Employment Insurance Act be reviewed by the Finance Committee so that consideration be given to the
exemption of temporary foreign workers and their employers from making
contributions to employment insurance.
Recommendation 31
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada conduct
a review of the adequacy of workers’ compensation for temporary foreign workers
and the barriers they and their families encounter in receiving full
compensation. The review should include recommendations and a model statute
that would address current deficiencies, if required.
Recommendation 32
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada,
through the Interim Federal Health Program, offer injured and/or sick temporary
foreign workers a free medical exam before returning to their country of
origin.
Recommendation 33
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada create
a web portal for people who were at one time temporary foreign workers in
Canada. This web portal could include information on how to access benefits
from outside of the country, including forms and contact information for the
relevant government bodies.
Recommendation 34
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada remove
the requirement that individuals with certain work permits live with or on the
premises of their employer.
Recommendation 35
The Committee recommends that, in respect of those employers
who propose to house temporary foreign workers, the Government of Canada grant
“hiring permits” only upon the employer undertaking to provide the worker(s)
with access to basic phone service.
Recommendation 36
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada include
a housing section on the “hiring permit” application. The employer would need
to indicate: 1. If housing will be provided; 2. If it includes telephone
access.