Canadian Employers
Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canada are struggling to recruit and retain skilled workers, which can prevent the company from growing and expanding. While it is important to prioritize hiring Canadians, if Canadian companies cannot maintain stability and consistently provide high quality products and services due to a shortage of skilled labor, these businesses may be at risk of disappearing. It is a common misconception that foreigners are taking Canadian jobs because they are willing to accept lower working conditions. However, the government does not allow foreigners to work in Canada unless the employer has made a significant effort to hire Canadians with competitive conditions first.
If you are an employer know that since the last 10 years the demand for foreign workers in Canada has slightly more than doubled from about 100,000 workers in early 2000 to more than 250,000 a decade later.
Most of these workers were for the service industry in jobs requiring low skills as agricultural seasonal workers or to highly specific professional positions. Most foreign workers in the country are concentrated in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.
Great Dominion can assist you in your process of hiring one or more qualified candidates to ensure the sustainability of your business in the short to medium term. Whether for a transfer between related enterprises, seasonal employment, temporary or permanent specialized position, count on our expertise and support in this field. Focus on managing and growing your business and let us handle the leg work and represent you with government authorities.
Our experts can help you in your recruitment efforts by offering one or all of the following services:
- Candidate profiling.
- Job description analysis based on the National Occupation Code (NOC).
- Meet the conditions attached to the recruitment of a foreign worker and apply on your behalf for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) with Service Canada department.
- Review the work contract under the rules of Employment and Social Development Canada "ESDC".
- Work permit and visa to enter Canada.
- Transition Plan.
Temporary foreign workers (TFW) can help employers meet their labour needs when Canadian citizens and permanent residents are not available. These workers often bring new skills and knowledge to help the country's economy grow.
The agricultural sector incorporates occupations that reflect a variety of skill levels. In an effort to balance the temporary employment needs of employers with the protection of workers, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) has a variety of streams that cover lower or higher-skilled occupations.
Employers can hire temporary foreign agricultural workers under 4 streams; however, each stream has specific criteria that must be met.
FAMILIES HIRING HOME CAREGIVERSUnder the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), families can hire foreign caregivers. However, the caregivers must:
- Provide care on a full-time basis (minimum 30 hours per week).
- work in the private household where the care is being provided and meet the requirements set by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).
These families or private household employers will be able to hire foreign workers, on a live-in or live out basis, for 2 categories of in-home workers, which include:
- Caregivers for children
- Children under 18 years of age
- Caregivers for people with high medical needs
- Elderly persons, 65 years of age or over; or
- People with disabilities, a chronic or terminal illness.
Under the Stream for Higher-skilled Occupations, employers can hire foreign workers in higher-skilled positions such as: management, professional, scientific, technical or trade occupations. These occupations can be found throughout many sectors of the economy, and as a result often have very diverse recruitment practices and regulatory requirements.
Employers can hire skilled foreign workers to either support the worker's:
- Temporary employment; or
- Permanent resident visa application.
- A permanent residence visa application.
You (the employer) may be allowed to hire temporary foreign workers for a maximum of 24 months through the Stream for Lower-skilled Occupations when there is a demonstrable shortage of Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
In Canada, lower levels of formal training are defined as occupations that usually require at most a high school diploma or a maximum of 2 years of job-specific training according to the NOC Classification system. These occupations are coded at the NOC C or D skill level.
The latest reforms announced in recent months make the process of hiring a temporary foreign worker much more arduous and difficult to pursue. Do not waste your time nor your energy trying to navigate your way through the system. Let us do it for you.
You have a position or several positions to fill? Seasonal, permanent? Specialized or low skills? Meet us for a consultation, we can surely make a difference for you.
HIRING TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS IN JUST 4 STEPSIn the majority of cases, there are four steps involved in hiring a temporary foreign worker from outside Canada. The need to complete each step will depend on the specifics of the job offer and the foreign worker’s country of citizenship and last permanent residence.
Employers and foreign workers must ensure that they provide accurate and complete information or the application process may be delayed.
The four steps are:- Determine if you require an LMIA.
- Apply for a LMIA from Service Canada (if required).
- Advise the foreign worker(s) to complete the work permit application, which is then processed by CIC (if applicable).
- A Border Services Officer at a port of entry issues the work permit.