Loading articles...

Extension set for select TFWs in Alberta

Select temporary foreign workers will get a letter in the mail, telling them they’re eligible to work in Alberta for another year. Yesterday, Ottawa and Alberta worked out a deal for a one-year relief for those workers who applied for Canadian citizenship before July 1, 2014.
“We want to be sure that they have an opportunity to be fully considered, and potentially stay in Alberta permanently if they are eligible and meet the criteria,” says Spokesperson Ohgo Ikhalo of Alberta Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour.
The province is reviewing more than 10,000 applications. It expects more than 1,000 workers will qualify for the extension. Those who qualify won’t be counted under Ottawa’s 30 per cent cap on TFWs in the workplace.
“This isnt’ an act of kindness towards anxious temporary foreign workers,” says Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan. “It’s all about making it possible for low wage employers to hold on to their temporary foreign workers for another year, and to evade the caps that were put in place.”
The province says this doesn’t change its priority of hiring Canadians and Albertans first. Workers who qualify must already be in the Alberta Immigration Nominee Program and be eligible to become a Canadian in 2016. The AFL argues Ottawa is putting the TFWs in line under it’s express citizenship program, which they likely won’t qualify for as low-skilled and low wage workers.