Temporary Foreign Workers in Victoria

The plot thickens...

 

http://ottawacitizen...d-cream-pedlars

 

Turns out it wasn’t a one-time event. The CBSA says the “fraudulent scheme” is playing out across the country involving young Israelis with jobs at mall kiosks.

 

Publicly, the CBSA remains tight-lipped about the situation, which peaks each year in the fall and winter. But internal documents show the federal government is trying to learn more about the mysterious companies that have been bringing Israeli workers to Canada and other countries for about a decade to sell Dead Sea beauty products, electronics and other goods.

...
 

Workers are sometimes coached by employers to tell authorities they’re visiting family, according to the CBSA report. They also use their military training to thwart questioning.

“CBSA officers have reported targets employing counter-surveillance techniques during surveillance and that interviews with kiosk workers are rarely productive as their ‘conduct after capture’ training has prepared them for providing information of limited value,” the report states.

 

 

So perhaps the tactic with these pushy salespeople is to simply ask, when accosted in a mall, "...got a work permit?"

Why Israel though?  They have low (5%?) unemployment and first world conditions.

In the article it gives a pretty good synopsis.

Right after high school the kids go into 2 or 3 year military service, men and women. When they get out, they have a year before university begins. So there's a lot of pressure to go see the world in that time so there are Israeli companies exploiting an opportunity that these young people are eager to take, especially with promises of thousands of dollars per month, tax free. I guess it's a unique set of circumstances.

I have run into some young Israeli hawkers in malls. Pretty smooth at what they do.

The feds recently announced some changes to the Spousal Open Work Permit starting in the new year, making it easier for TFW's to bring their families over and start working.

 

https://www.canada.c...-shortages.html

So you'll have to hire an entire family then?

The O means Open, they can work anywhere AFAIK.

They can, no restrictions on "where". 

 

The desperation of local employers has been evident to us this week; our kidlin' opted to start a home based business a month before covid hit. Somehow it not only survived but thrived and she was able to easily pay rent, bills, groceries and go to Camosun p/t. However the continuous spikes in the cost of living this year have really put a damper on her operation which is very much a discretionary spend as far as her (female) customers are concerned.

 

At our strong encouragement she finally agreed to apply for a P/T job or two to supplement the home biz income. She applied at 9 local employers, got 9 responses and 8 interviews. From the start of the application process ten days ago she now has two p/t positions which will easily top up the home business income. Employers we literally begging her to come in for interviews. Wild....

She's probably pretty normal!

I mentioned to someone the other day that I put an ad out for a dishwasher / kitchen helper a couple of weeks ago and got 5 or 6 responses, all of them with relevant experience and housing and transportation, the whole bit!  if this was 2018-2022 I would have received roughly 0 replies.  Something is shifting in our local economy.

Unemployment claims must be at an all-time low.

Unemployment claims must be at an all-time low.

 

The participation rate is at an all time low. Inflation will help fix that however.

She's probably pretty normal!

I mentioned to someone the other day that I put an ad out for a dishwasher / kitchen helper a couple of weeks ago and got 5 or 6 responses, all of them with relevant experience and housing and transportation, the whole bit!  if this was 2018-2022 I would have received roughly 0 replies.  Something is shifting in our local economy.

 

I am hearing a lot of this as well. Like a switch turned on, many jobs are getting lots of applications all of a sudden.

 

Maybe the 218K tech workers that have lost their jobs so far this year are contributing! https://www.trueup.io/layoffs

Edited by spanky123, 08 December 2022 - 07:22 PM.

She's probably pretty normal!

I mentioned to someone the other day that I put an ad out for a dishwasher / kitchen helper a couple of weeks ago and got 5 or 6 responses, all of them with relevant experience and housing and transportation, the whole bit!  if this was 2018-2022 I would have received roughly 0 replies.  Something is shifting in our local economy.

 

Good for you I imagine it is doubly tough considering the job is on an island, which is not for everyone.

 

I think spanky is certainly partially correct as we know the boomers, my gang, are beginning to check out in larger and larger numbers. NParker is a good example from this board. Three very good pals recently advised they are retiring within the next 12 months (including my financial guy...bummer for me), and I know at least a dozen more including me, who are 1.5 - 3 years (max) out.

 

With all the employment gaps and position openings currently, combined with the crazy cost of living here which I'm certain drives a certain percentile away or discourages them from coming here at all, if you're situation is unique like the kidlin - single, no kids, no real restrictions when she can work other than she needs to set aside time for Camosun studies, and no larger financial burdens like loans - the jobs locally are there for the taking, and a lot of them aren't just your classic mall-retail variety either. The two p/t roles she got are with highly respected well established firms with which if she desired (it isn't) she could make a good career with...

 

It certainly wasn't like this in Victoria in the mid - 80's when I graduated UVic! Hell we mostly bailed on the island like lemmings, going to Vancouver, Calgary and many I knew who wound up in Ottawa, due to a perpetually soft economy that really only offered one thing locally: public sector jobs and the prospect of benefits and a pension. The trick of course was getting in......