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Temporary Foreign Workers in Victoria


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#121 Matt R.

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 10:43 AM

It's not correct to say that TFW's are poor people from poor countries. There are many that are average people from average countries that are simply looking to broaden their horizons.

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#122 jonny

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 10:56 AM

What's an average country? Mexico? An average country is poorer and less well off than Canada.

 

I haven't been able to find a good demographic source, but a lot of TFWs come from South East Asia, China, India and Central America. Those countries are not as well off as Canada in many respects. 

 

http://www.statcan.g.../tbl001-eng.htm



#123 Mike K.

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 11:00 AM

I know several TFW's from the UK and Australia. They are not poor, nor are they desperately searching for work. They are here to eventually seek residency status.

 

I also know an engineering firm that has hired several foreign engineers at a far reduced pay rate compared to what they would be paying a local engineer with the same experience (remember, they are posting pay rates for entry level engineers who earn a fraction of what their senior counterparts would earn, but the foreign workers are being hired as entry level even though they have years of experience). I do not agree with this, but I know for a fact that this is what this company has done and their workers are earning far in excess of what they would have earned in their homeland. Now imagine if we extrapolated this to every engineering firm across the country like so many fast food restaurants have done in Canada.

 

It is also not true that engineers write their own cheques, so to speak. Long gone are the days when someone with an engineering degree walks through the door and expects $250k per year. Lots of "engineers" are paper pushers earning $50-$75k per year even after several years of experience. Just look at the volume of engineering students being pumped out of our post secondary institutions, they all have to work somewhere and the forces of supply and demand still apply.


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#124 concorde

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 11:17 AM

If they have to break Canadian employment regulations in order to turn a profit then it's time for them to close.

 

How many engineering firms would love to bring in an overly qualified engineer and pay him the wage of a straight-outta-school engineering newbie? They'd save $50k per year, per employee, while realizing a higher rate of productivity.

how do you compare that, fast food is mindless working making fries and burgers, and the other is highly skilled work that requires extensive detail, schooling and work experience.  The newbie engineer will constantly be unsure of himself, looking things up twice and going over everything while the seasoned 30 year vet will just push it out fast and take half the time of the newbie



#125 jonny

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 11:41 AM

I know several TFW's from the UK and Australia. They are not poor, nor are they desperately searching for work. They are here to eventually seek residency status.

 

Mike, you said "overly qualified" engineer which I took to mean an excellent engineer, not an engineer with only "several years of experience".

 

Since nobody else seems to want to look up the facts, here's where our foreign workers come from. http://www.cic.gc.ca...emporary/07.asp

 

They come from all over the place. The biggest source country by far is the USA.


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#126 Mike K.

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 11:42 AM

The newbie engineer will constantly be unsure of himself, looking things up twice and going over everything while the seasoned 30 year vet will just push it out fast and take half the time of the newbie.

 

 

Yup, no argument there. And therein lies the temptation to hire TFW's and why misuse of this program can have profoundly negative effects for our young workers seeking experience.

 

They come from all over the place. The biggest source country by far is the USA.

 

 

Yes they do, but as far as the USA goes, many of the workers from the "USA" are in fact themselves temporary foreign workers in the US and using the US as a stepping stone to enter Canada and seek residency.

 

Many of these TFW's will pay several thousand dollars to the company hiring them in order to secure a job in Canada and enter the country. There is a considerable volume of under-the-table stuff going on to get people work. I've actually been approached by an individual who offered my company $2,000 to make a position for a TFW just to get them across the border from the US. I politely told this individual to take a hike.

 

This stuff is real and there can be a criminal/black market element to it as well.


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#127 jonny

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 11:56 AM

I think there is confusion, myself included, in the difference between a Temporary Foreign Worker and other foreign nationals living and working here. I know several immigrants who lived and worked in Canada who were not permanent residents, but they weren't "Temporary Foreign Workers" either. All of the people I knew had finished up degrees here and were granted multi-year work visas which is a per-requisite to permanent residency.

 

Just because you're originally from the UK or Australia doesn't automatically make you a Temporary Foreign Worker, which relates to a specific government program.



#128 jonny

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 12:02 PM

Yes they do, but as far as the USA goes, many of the workers from the "USA" are in fact themselves temporary foreign workers in the US and using the US as a stepping stone to enter Canada and seek residency.

 

I'm not so sure about that. In the statistics I posted from StatsCan I believe 'Source Country' refers to country of origin or citizenship.



#129 Mike K.

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 12:02 PM

Working visas, travel and work visas, and TFW's are three completely different things but I'm speaking SOLELY about TFW's.

 

I kid you not, I was approached by someone who said he had a constant stream of foreigners working in the US either illegally or with working visas who would pay upwards of $5,000 to land a TFW job in Canada, plus any fees associated with the program itself and they would never even have to set foot in my office, ever. I was told, point blank, that there are many companies in Victoria that do this but they try to keep their TFW hires to a couple per year in order to remain under the government's radar.

 

Crazy, right?


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#130 jonny

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 12:04 PM

Working visas, travel and work visas, and TFW's are three completely different things but I'm speaking SOLELY about TFW's.

 

Yes. Immigration is big business, but if you have a decent job in the country you want to immigrate to immigration generally becomes a lot easier in my experience.



#131 Mike K.

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 12:08 PM

The fellow who approached me said the TFW would never actually have to set foot in my office and could be "fired" soon after entering Canada. He or she would simply find work elsewhere. To say I wasn't at all interested would be an understatement so I didn't push this issue further.

 

I don't know the intricacies of how this works nor do I know how these companies can stay under the radar but you're right, it is big business and it's taking Canada's generosity towards foreign workers and abusing it to the highest degree.


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#132 concorde

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 12:34 PM

Yup, no argument there. And therein lies the temptation to hire TFW's and why misuse of this program can have profoundly negative effects for our young workers seeking experience.

The problem is that our young workers don't want these jobs or they want it on their terms and it doesn't work like that in an entry level job



#133 Greg

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 01:24 PM

How many engineering firms would love to bring in an overly qualified engineer and pay him the wage of a straight-outta-school engineering newbie? They'd save $50k per year, per employee, while realizing a higher rate of productivity.

The engineering firm just moves the office to where the lower priced engineers are already living...



#134 Mike K.

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 01:26 PM

I'm not sure if that'd a real-world solution. Who would hire a local engineering firm that had engineers located offshore and who could not conduct onsite visits?

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#135 concorde

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 03:52 PM

I'm not sure if that'd a real-world solution. Who would hire a local engineering firm that had engineers located offshore and who could not conduct onsite visits?

why not, design me an airplane or the structure of this high rise, or this electrical whatever.  Send the design back to BC and hire a local engineering tech to do the on site inspections as it gets built.  Granted, I've never heard of that happening



#136 LJ

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 06:40 PM

Well apparently the government heard the criticism and cancelled the TFW program for the fast food sector.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...ttawa-1.2621385


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#137 Redd42

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Posted 24 April 2014 - 07:31 PM

Oops....

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...lshit-1.2621151

 

As someone commented about the baggage handlers being video taped throwing bags from a great height, one has to assume they are being watched (and recorded) at all times in our modern world....even when you think you are among people who agree with you.

 

And it seems the head of McDs didn't really have the conversation he thought he had with Minister Kenney:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...ttawa-1.2621385



#138 G-Man

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Posted 25 April 2014 - 07:10 AM

The key is really just to lower the bar for immigrants. That way you have people that will work at the low cost, that want to be here and are better protected by our laws. Victoria needs a much larger immigrant base in my opinion. Would good for business and culture in the city.

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#139 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 30 April 2014 - 05:08 AM

CFAX has been running an ad looking for a salesperson for about 6 weeks now, they must be in the same boat as me, I've been running ads for a salesperson since December, with no takers.


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#140 spanky123

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Posted 30 April 2014 - 05:43 AM

CFAX has been running an ad looking for a salesperson for about 6 weeks now, they must be in the same boat as me, I've been running ads for a salesperson since December, with no takers.


You must not be looking in the right places or are a bad employer as everyone knows that there are hundreds of local people vying for every job that comes up!

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