Mixed responses to TFW changes from Fort McMurray labour, business groups

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Recent changes to the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program has left polarized reactions among Fort McMurray’s business and labour leaders.

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The federal government announced Monday that permit lengths for low-wage TFWs will shrink to one year from two years, and they cannot form more than 10 per cent of a workplace.

Employers will be cut off from hiring low-wage TFWs if local unemployment is at least six per cent. The most recent data from Statistics Canada shows unemployment in July was 6.1 per cent in the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake census region, up from 5.5 per cent in June.

There will be some exceptions for jobs in agriculture, food processing, construction and healthcare. The TFW program’s high-wage stream faces no restrictions.

Dianna De Sousa, president of the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce, said the changes “potentially can” hurt local businesses that turned to the program because they struggled to hire workers in Fort McMurray.

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“If you have situations where certain industries are not attracting a workforce, then you’re penalizing them,” De Sousa said in an interview.

“There are lots of industries and communities like ours where it’s a challenge to attract someone to move all this way north for what’s a little bit over minimum wage.”

The program is meant for businesses that have proven they have unsuccessfully tried hiring workers already in Canada to fill jobs. Ottawa expanded the program’s scope in 2022 as businesses struggled to find workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

De Sousa said it is still common for local businesses to recruit and train workers that leave after a few weeks for a lucrative job in the oilsands, although the end of the last oilsands boom has slowed this trend. An influx of international students at Keyano College looking for part-time jobs has also offered some relief for workplaces with entry-level positions.

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“What I’ve heard from employers is they’ve gotten some good resumes. There are people looking for work because there is a bit of a slowdown and a plateau in the economy of our region,” she said.

“But the need for skilled workers and the gap with skilled workers is still very present. It’s just not the same volume that it was during the boom. Labour will always be somewhat of a challenge in our region.”

Labour council calls program ‘an abomination’

The federal changes come after a United Nations report found the program is a “breeding ground” for contemporary slavery. The report found issues with wage theft, long hours with few breaks, unsafe working conditions, problems accessing health care, and allegations of workers being sexually, physically, emotionally and verbally abused.

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Labour groups and the workers themselves have also reported an uptick in employers abusing the program and workers. Others accuse the program of suppressing wages and driving up youth unemployment.

Mike Moffatt, an economist and senior director of policy and innovation at the Ottawa-based Smart Prosperity Institute, told the National Post that outside of 2020, this has been the worst year on record for teenagers trying to find summer jobs.

De Sousa says problems within the TFW program require improved enforcement of Canada’s labour and human rights laws.

“With any system there is the potential for abuse or misuse, but we live in a lawful society where there’s recourse,” said De Sousa.

“There are systems that can be used to address this, but we need to be careful of penalizing all for potentially what may or may not be happening in certain places.”

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Omer Hussein, president of the Wood Buffalo and District Labour Council, called the program “an abomination” and the program should be scaled down, modified or scrapped to protect wages and workers’ rights.

He said he has heard from people in the community that their teenage children are struggling to land their first jobs. The organization has also heard about immigrants who came to Fort McMurray outside of the TFW program are struggling to find entry-level jobs. Both groups are likely to leave and find work elsewhere, he argued.

“You can’t tell me it’s not being abused here. You have a lot of new Canadians coming to this community and a lot of teenagers trying to find work,” he said.

“You’re telling me it’s impossible to fill these entry-level jobs when everyone is looking for work?”

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