Canada is still bringing in temporary foreign workers at a near-record pace despite the recession, but a new study argues our immigration policy's increasing focus on filling jobs will hamper the economy over time by squeezing out qualified permanent immigrants.
A record 193,000 temporary foreign workers received Canadian work permits last year to fill labour shortages - 80,000 more than came in 2004 - as Ottawa expanded the intake to respond to employers' demand for staff.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the sharp recession that struck Canada in late 2008 has hardly put a damper on employers' requests for temporary foreign workers in the first half of 2009, nor have new restrictions, such as a requirement that all jobs be advertised in Canada first, imposed by the government this spring.
"I expected to see a decline, but I was quite surprised to actually see demand for temporary foreign workers steady in the first quarter of this year, and down only slightly in the second quarter," he said in an interview.
Mr. Kenney said the numbers of temporary workers are not expected to squeeze out people recruited as permanent skilled workers, but that more highly skilled temporary workers will eventually stay.
..
A new study sponsored by Toronto's Maytree Foundation, however, argues the growth of temporary work permits is part of a shift in immigration policy to filling short-term job gaps that has gone too far, and will hurt Canada's economy in the long run.
An increasing number are coming as temporary workers or foreign students, some hoping to stay, while the number of those recruited permanently as skilled workers has stayed flat.
Author Naomi Alboim, a Queen's University fellow and former senior bureaucrat, said that diverting resources to temporary workers slows processing of permanent skilled workers, hampering Canada's ability to recruit the best.
In 2008, for the first time, the combined numbers of temporary workers and foreign students, 272,520, surpassed the number of new permanent residents, 247,202. However, there are now more ways for them to stay under provincial programs or a new Canadian Experience Class program.
.... But research shows those with better overall qualifications do better in the long run than those chosen to quickly fill a job - because they adapt better to economic changes, and find new work faster if they lose a job, Prof. Alboim said.
"We're reducing the number of people assessed on human capital, who we know do best, in favour of a whole lot of temporary people - and, by the way, an increasing proportion of those people are low-skilled people," she said.
In the first six months of 2009, Canada issued 95,060 work permits for specific jobs - almost half of last year's record total, though 9,000 less than in the first half of 2008.
The numbers of temporary workers had already mushroomed by more than 70 per cent from 2004 to 2008, from about 113,000 to 193,000.
Many came under perennial categories such as nannies and seasonal farm workers. But statistics for 2005 to 2007 show large increases in trades like carpenters, welders and pipefitters, and, especially in Alberta, unskilled labourers such as meatpackers, food-plant workers and kitchen staff. Statistics don't yet show why demand remained high as unemployment rose from 6.2 per cent a year ago to 8.6 per cent last month, or how many temporary foreign workers already in Canada have been thrown out of work.
Those who lose jobs can stay in Canada until their work permits run out, often two years, and usually they aren't eligible for employment insurance. They can only take a job from another employer who has convinced the government that it faces a labour shortage.
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said there have been two trends: highly skilled temporary workers at stalled oil sands projects and construction sites suffered heavy layoffs, but service-sector workers "flipping burgers and changing beds in hotels" have not.
....
Quelle: Campbell Clark
Ottawa — From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 23, 2009
Ich bin Schweizer und kann nur soviel sagen: bei uns (vermutlich auch in Deutschland) ist die Situation ähnlich. Nur mit dem Unterschied dass bei uns jährlich fast die gleiche Zahl an "foreign workers" wie im Text einmarschiert, analog Kanada, trotz steigender Arbeitslosigkeit. Und das bei einem winzig, kleinen Land wie der Schweiz. Dazu noch der imense Druck von der EU (Schweiz = nicht EU-Land!) mit all den Abkommen etc. Und; es lebt sich ganz gut in der Schweiz arbeitslos zu sein, auch oder gerade für "foreign workers"!
Beide Länder, Kanada und die Schweiz sind trotzdem extrem schöne Länder (ausserhalb der Ballungszentren) !
Einen feinen Unterschied gibt es aber schon. Meines Wissens darfst du in der Schweiz als foreign worker direkt deine Koffer packen, wenn der Job futsch ist. In Kanada musst du erst mit Ablauf deines Visums abreisen, kannst also zumindest probieren, eine neue LMO zu ergattern. Und kannst nach 2-3 Jahren PR/Staatsbuergerschaft bekommen, dagegen hat die Schweiz geringfuegig hoehere Huerden. Zu Deutschland mag ich mich nicht aeussern, das ist ein viel zu komplexes Thema dort.
Nicht ganz, wenn du 12 Monate gearbeitet hast (inkl. EU-Raum!!!!), kann man dich nicht mehr verabschieden, dann bist du bezugsberechtigt für die Arbeitslosenkasse (EU Bestimmung) und kannst weiter auf Jobsuche gehen wenn du willst. Einbürgerung, das stimmt, ein paar Jahre mehr brauchts schon. Dafür aber werden die Berufe aus anderen Länder meist akzeptiert, ohne Nachschulung, Prüfung etc. (Bsp. Krankenschwestern)!
bei diesen zahlen hat man zu berücksichtigen, dass mehr als 70 % (*) der work permit inhaber wieder das land verlassen - weil ihnen kein neuer work permit ausgestellt wird, weil sie die schnautze von canada voll haben (wie sie in anderen foren schreiben), weil der boss sie nicht weiterbeschäftig, die firmen keine arbeit mehr haben - der boss nicht mehr geld zahlen will, ...
und so weiter
da diese 70 + % fehlen müssen halt neue leute angeworben werden
und so geht es jahr für jahr weiter
Zitat
Immigrants take brunt of recession, recover less quickly
Past recessions show immigrants have greater difficulty re-entering the labour force even after the economy rebounds
titelstory der - the globe and mail -von heute
wenn es schon für immigranten schwer wird - wie schlimm ist es dann für work permit inhaber?
ok - wie immer wieder gesagt: einige mit PR oder WP geht es gut und die merken nix