Labour shortage expected from
temporary foreign worker rules
Seafood processors concerned they won't be able to take advantage of
new market opportunities
CBC News Posted: Jul 29, 2015 2:52 PM AT Last Updated: Jul 29, 2015 2:52 PM AT
Without more temporary foreign workers, P.E.I. will not be able to take full advantage of new trade agreements, says Dennis King, executive director P.E.I. Seafood Processors Association. (CBC)
The labour supply in rural P.E.I. is not big enough to meet the challenge of supplying new international markets, says the P.E.I. Seafood Processors Association.
There are not enough local people to run the seafood plants on the Island, said executive director Dennis King, and new federal rules mean temporary foreign workers can only make up a maximum of 30 per cent of staff from fish plants.
King is concerned that while new trade agreements, such as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Community, are opening up markets, the industry does not have the resources it needs.
"Our processors are challenged to meet existing contracts with the labour shortages they face in rural communities," he said.
"Ramping up production for new markets is just not possible with the current labour supply situation."
The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association is also expressing concern, because if the processors can't handle the fish, it will also be a lost opportunity for fishermen.
Representatives of P.E.I.'s seafood processing, harvesting, and aquaculture sectors will attend the Fisheries' Forum in Moncton this week, which is sponsored by the Maritime Seafood Coalition.
The new temporary foreign worker rules will be one of the issues addressed at the forum.
The source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/labour-shortage-expected-from-temporary-foreign-worker-rules-1.3172617
Finding expertise in the immigrant labour pool
Halifax-based contractor Dexter Construction has discovered a pool of “underutilized labour” that is proving to be a good hiring source for hard-working and reliable workers for its concrete division as well as other divisions in its fold.
That is no small feat because it is difficult for many contractors to find workers who are a long-term fit in the concrete sector which tends to see workers come and go in the physically demanding trade. Concrete formwork is a case in point.
But of the six immigrants (some of whom are refugees) hired by Dexter Construction over two years ago, through a labour pool at the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS), five are still working for the company.
That is an impressive retention rate, says Ryan Kidney, director of human resources, the Municipal Group of Companies and Dexter Construction. Dexter recently received the Refugee Employment Award from Citizenship and Immigration Canada for hiring the immigrants in 2013.
"Concrete is very challenging labour-intensive work and it has been challenging to find people locally that want to work in that industry," he says. "Typically, if we hired 15 (local) people, we might have only five the next year."
So what sets the immigrants/refugees apart?
Fewer employment options for the new arrivals to Canada might be one reason they stick it out. Whatever the reason, Kidney says immigrants have shown a readiness to learn and a willingness to work hard. The jobs are mostly in concrete formwork but Dexter has set its sights on training some of the immigrants to do concrete finishing — a skill that takes years to perfect.
The type of work ranges from small jobs such as sidewalks to complex concrete bridges, he says.
Kidney says he came across ISANS while doing research on where to find workers a few years ago. The contractor hired the six through ISANS' Bridge to Work program, a three-month course which covers basic construction skills.
A number of those new hires — including several people from Butan — had construction experience back home but weren't familiar with building methods and technology in Canada.
"They were used to doing things by hand that we use machines to do," he says.
The contractor does much of its own training through the Dexter Institute. Originally meant for training in heavy equipment operation when it was founded in the early 2000s, the institute today trains 20 to 25 people annually in a program geared to construction sectors for which Dexter works.
"Some of the new immigrants probably will go through the program," Kidney says, adding the company is looking for more people with skilled trades largely for heavy civil construction work that is the company's bread and butter.
He sees a large pool of immigrants with construction backgrounds who are currently underemployed, often in low-paying service industry jobs.
"Many of these people (new immigrants) have construction skills that they haven't been using since they arrived here. They are the people we want," he says.
"A lot of people think in the Maritimes there is huge unemployment and maybe there is in some areas but in Halifax and vicinity there is not much unemployment."
Even finding people to work as labourers can be a challenge, he points out.
Kidney says he is unaware of any other contractors taking advantage of labour recruitment potential through ISANS.
"I would argue that it is an underutilized labour pool. Mind you, there are challenges with it because some of the workers' language skills aren't perfect. But they have to start somewhere and they have to be given the opportunity."
Dexter went back to ISANS earlier this year to hire 14 more immigrants for its expanding environmental/waste management division. The new hires work as drivers and as garbage pickup workers.
Kidney says winning the Refugee Employment Award, which is internationally recognized, was "quite pleasing. The only other companies in Canada that won the award were Sobeys and Safeway."
Ottawa and Foreign workers
And the beat goes on…
The attached two articles say
it all about the insanity of Ottawa’s never ending foreign worker Mickey Mouse mismanagement.
Item #1: Nova Scotia cement
Ottawa gives an award to a
Halifax construction company for training a handful of foreign refugee cement
finishers. Ottawa agrees that there is a shortage of good cement finishers in
Nova Scotia. Canadian jobs are protected.
Meanwhile, Ottawa acknowledges
that it does not have the labour statistics justifying the denial of work
permits to Ontario cement companies.
Ottawa then encourages Ontario
employers to hire tens of thousands of illegal cement finishers.
Jobs are protected for
non-existent Canadians.
Item #2: Atlantic FishProcessing
Ottawa continues its journey
into foreign worker lunacy by shutting down production at Atlantic Canada
seafood processing plants as a result of employers being denied foreign workers
in order to protect Canadian jobs.
Ottawa agrees that its social
welfare money assures that there is a shortage of good Canadian
seafood workers.
So the idea is to protect jobs
for Canadians who do not want to work.
Seafood plants will close. A
few big trawlers will get the job done. But Canadian jobs were protected.
The obvious question …
Where
is the logic in all this?
Answer:
There
is no logic in Ottawa when it comes to foreign workers.
Why ?
Because
Ottawa has abandoned a rational foreign worker policy to the big union bosses
and a handful of their generous business buddies. Ottawa sees no need to
interfere with a few good old boys making a lot of money.
Why does Ottawa do this?
Answer: Tradition
Is there a solution?
Answer: Not really"
Richard Boraks, July 30 2015
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