Canadians who have long criticised the government for its relaxed attitude toward the Foreign Worker Program have a reason to cheer. Reform has come quickly.
The government’s press release states that changes will be introduced that affect legislation, regulation and administration of the Foreign Worker Program.
The abolishment of wage flexibility will be effective. Employers will no longer be able to hire foreigners for peanuts. Companies now have to pay workers the Canadian minimum wage. The A-LMO process will be suspended immediately. This process allowed companies to accelerate their applications for foreign workers. The government has given itself the authority to revoke foreign worker permits and LMOs if it suspects abuse.
These are swift kicks to the businesses who make most of their profit by using cheap foreign labor. These changes are not all discipline for the wicked. The government has put a measure in place to make sure that the companies who use these workers have a plan to transition away from this practice.
Every Canadian is sure to be happy with the decision that employers are now going to pay for the processing of LMOs instead of the taxpayers.
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Agricultural workers should not be affected by any of the purported changes to the Foreign Worker Program. Every single detail has not been announced about the new plan set in place to combat the use of foreign workers.
Some implications business owners will not be happy about are that the processing times for LMOs are going to increase tremendously. Applications for foreign workers are going to be longer and more complicated. Almost assuredly more scrutiny will be placed on every application put forward. English and French will now be the only languages allowed to be mandatory.
Reform has come swiftly and is significant for the Foreign Worker Program.
