Alberta, Canada Needs Foreign Workers

An email was sent to us by a friend who is a Certified Immigration Consultant in Canada saying that there are a lot of opportunities in Alberta – an oil rich province in Canada.

Although we know about this since two years ago, and Ontario already lost many workers who moved to Alberta, specifically in the oil patch area – we never knew that Alberta’s need is this serious.

We hear stories that Tim Hortons, specially in Fort McMurray (the oilsands location in Alberta) will pay as much as $12/hour minimum wage! It’s a friggin’ doughnut store paying top money!

Anyway, here’s the body of the email for anyone who’s interested in finding a job in Canada. Goodluck.

Hello everyone,

After 30 years residing in Ontario, Canada, I finally took the opportunity to visit Alberta, a 3 hour flight.We Ontarians thought Alberta is so much colder ( well it is) but it’s bearable for as long as you “bundle up”. I attended the seminar in Edmonton ( capital of Alberta) on Wednesday, February 6. The seminar is about ” Hiring Foreign Workers”. The seminar was held in Westin Hotel in downtown area and was attended by recruiters and immigration professionals ( lawyers and consultants). They had 8 speakers representing various government agencies that are involved in either processing of foreign worker applications or certification of trades workers. I looked around and I saw Filipinos there who are either in the recruiting business or considering of going into the business. The seminar was 3 hour long and at the end we had the Q&A portion.

In summary, this is what I learned:

1) Alberta needs people to fill in job vacancies. Large retail stores ( Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Staples, Best Buy, etc,), hotels ( Westin, Ramada, Quality Inn, etc), grocery stores ( Superstore, Safeway), construction companies or contractors,beverage companies like Tim Hortons and food chain outlets – Mcdonald’s, A&W,EDO( Japanese food),Subway, KFC, they are all hiring.

2) The placement should be paid by the employer NOT by the employee. POEA has issued an advisory memo to local Philippine recruiting agencies to abide by this rule of they can lose their license. Alberta, along with Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba have a legislation prohibiting recruiters from charging placement fee to employees.

3) The application to hire foreign workers which is submitted by the employer to Service Canada to obtain a positive Labour Market Opinion (LMO), on average takes 6 to 8 months, UNLESS the occupation falls under the ELMO (expedited labour market opinion) category. Those occupations that fall under the ELMO should only take 5 days to process.

4) In Manila, processing work permit applications may take 6 to 8 months, due to backlog. So many applicants, not enough immigration officers. In other countries, work permit applications on average take 3 to 4 months.

5) For trades skills, such as, welders, carpenters, pipe fitters, mechanics, that have licensing requirements, foreign workers who hold work permit need to pass the certification examination within 6 months from arrival, or their work permit will not be renewed.They are issued a one year work permit, which is renewable if they pass the qualifying exam. Within six months, they can write the exam 2 times, in some special cases they are allowed 3 times.

6) Foreign workers who work in food chain outlets as food servers can only work for 2 years, then they must exit Canada. After four months, they may re-enter Canada again on work permit if they are either re-hired by their present employer or if they find another employer.

7) Foreign workers who work in semi-skilled occupations in the hospitality industry, such as front desk clerks and room attendants ; food processing and beverage, such as Tim Hortons, or Maple Leafs farm; manufacturing such as assembly line workers; have a chance of applying for Permanent Resident status through Alberta’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). However, there is a limit on how many an employer can appoint for PNP. A large company who employs 451 and more employees can only appoint 18 foreign workers maximum a year.

Clearly, most of these foreign workers will have to leave Canada after two years. Only a few fortunate ones, those who are appointed by their employers for PNP application can remain and eventually become Permanent residents,as long as they meet all the requirements for Permanent Resident application.

When I went to West Edmonton Mall, considered the biggest in the world, I walked around the food court area and most of the food servers are Filipino foreign workers. Hotels’ room attendants are also mostly Filipino foreign workers. I spoke to someone who is working at KFC and she said she’s been working in Alberta for one year but worries that she will go back to the Philippines after her second year. The majority of food chain workers have the same fear. Fast food outlets do not qualify to appoint foreign workers for PNP. One fortunate man.also a Filipino foreign worker I met who works as an assistant manager in one of Tim Horton’s outlets has already been appointed, meaning he was nominated by his employer for PNP and is eligible to apply for Permanent Resident status.

There are plenty of jobs but the majority of Albertan employers prefer to fill the job vacancies either locally or inter-provincially. They think hiring foreign workers is costly. They have to pay the placement fee, they may have to pay the airfare and relocation costs. Also, it is a longer process to bring in foreign workers. Certainly, for Canadian residents,citizens and permanent residents, Alberta offers better and more employment opportunities. My 21 year old daughter came with me, gave out resumes to retail stores in West Edmonton Mall and got a job offer on the spot. Within 24 hours she got 2 more job offers.There is one downside to working in Alberta,Finding an affordable place to rent.

If you know anyone who is interested in working in Canada, whether they are in the Philippines or in other countries, tell them to email their resumes to :

inform@workerpluscanada.com or alim2k2@yahoo.com

Our website address: www.workerpluscanada.com

I am looking for medical staff workers – nurses, health care aides, doctors preferably who work in hospitals or nursing homes outside of the Philippines ( Saudi, UK, Singapore,Dubai,Israel) and skilled workers – civil engineers, mechanical engineers,electrical engineers, welders,iron workers, pipe fitters, construction work helpers, carpenters, cabitnet makers, framers, heavy equipment mechanics, machinist, etc.

Regards,

Mila V. Echevarria
Certified Canadian Immigration Consultant
Member, Canadian Society of Immigration Consultant (CSIC)

There you are. In case you contact her, please say that you got her contact information from ImmigrationHour.com

Other Post Of Interest:

• More Working And Permanent Residency in Canada Questions & Answer
• Alberta, Canada Needs Foreign Workers
• Filipino Immigration To Canada Growing At Rapid Pace
• Canadian Working Visa And Work Permit Issues To Know About
• Canada Immigration Concern: Requirements to Maintain Permanent Residency Status
• Misrepresentation In Work Permit Application – Will It Affect Permanent Resident Application?
• How To Speed Up Your Visa Application To Canada
• Foreign Workers in Canada: Addressing Some Common Issues And Concerns