Changes Made to Temporary Foreign Workers Program
RCC Applauds Harper Government's Efforts to Further Address Labour Shortages
Vancouver, February 23, 2007 – Retail Council of Canada (RCC) welcomed the announcement made today by the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada and the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration on the additional changes made to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. Extending the Labour Market Opinion permitting foreign workers to work in Canada from 12 to 24 months will greatly benefit the staffing needs of Canadian retailers.
"The labour challenge retailers are facing in Alberta, and increasingly across Canada, is a snapshot of what the future will hold as we deal with the realities of an aging workforce," said Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO of Retail Council of Canada. "Retailers are encouraged by the improvements the Harper government continues to make to the very valuable Temporary Foreign Worker Program."
Through the retailer-driven Alberta Labour Supply Task Force, RCC has been working proactively with government to develop solutions to Canada's labour supply challenges. Last fall, the Alberta Retail Labour Supply Task Force and Alberta's Ministry of Human Resources and Employment launched the retail sub-sector strategy of Alberta's 10-year labour force plan, which includes a number of strategies to address the issue of labour shortages head on.
"RCC will continue to work with provincial, territorial and federal governments to address the need for skilled and 'skillable' labour in our sector," added Brisebois. "We commend Ministers Solberg and Finley for their continued efforts to address this important issue."
Changes are also being made to enable employers to apply online for the temporary foreign worker program. By April 2007, online applications will be accepted to the program.
About Retail Council of Canada
Retail Council of Canada (www.retailcouncil.org) is the Voice of Retail. It is a not-for-profit association representing more than 40,000 stores of all retail formats, including independent merchants, regional and national mass and specialty chains, and online merchants.
For more information, contact:
Stephanie Petroff
Manager, National Public Affairs
Retail Council of Canada
Tel: (416) 922-0553, ext. 228
E-mail: spetroff@retailcouncil.org
Backgrounder:
Employers will be able to complete the "Foreign Worker Application (Application for a Labour Market Opinion — LMO)" form online as of April 1, 2007.
Employers will be able to access information about applying online by mid-March 2007, following this link: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/epb/lmd/fw/onlineappintro.shtml.
The process for employers hiring a foreign worker will also be expedited by allowing work permit applications to be processed at the same time as the application for an LMO, if requested by the worker. Effective February 23, 2007, this concurrent processing of the employer's LMO and the foreign national's work permit should reduce the total processing time for these applications.
For more details and to view the official news release of the Government of Canada go to: http://news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=278449&.