Nick Noorani Website

Last fall, in a dingy boardroom in Ottawa, a group of union leaders sat uncomfortably with migrant worker advocates to discuss Canada’s growing use of temporary foreign workers to fill labour shortages.
Union reps in construction trades, food and service industries raised concerns over migrants’ substandard credentials and displacement of union jobs, while advocates complained about Canada’s protected labour market and employers who exploit foreign workers.
“There was definitely discomfort and tension in the room,” recalled Karl Flecker, a national director of the Canadian Labour Congress, who was at the meeting. “It was a frank dialogue, but people were cautious of one another.”
Despite their differences, they formed an alliance and have been meeting regularly to discuss labour rights, strategize political lobbying, share information on corporate abusers and unscrupulous recruiters and build bridges with migrant-sending countries – a counterforce, they say, against the globalization of cheap labour.
Increasingly, the union movement has been turning its attention to the plight of migrant labourers and temporary foreign workers as their numbers increase and, in many cases, their poor working conditions come to light.
Unite to prevent exploitation, improve conditions for Canada’s rising number of temporary workers
Aug 27, 2008 04:30 AM
Nicholas Keung
Immigration/Diversity Reporter

Read more…

TORONTO — Crooks claiming to be Canadian embassy officials are targeting foreign workers who want to come here for jobs in hotels and construction, Foreign Affairs warned yesterday.
Websites and e-mails are used to lure workers with offers that the “Canadian Immigration Bureau” will give them a free “Canada Health Certificate” and jobs at the “Canadian Hotel,” or the “Hotel Omni Mont-Royal,” a government website warns.
The scam seems to be widening and last June the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka, Bangladesh, issued a fraud advisory warning on its website.
By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA

Read more…

Unions and contractors in Alberta disagree about the merits of a new federal government immigration program.
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley outlined recently the details of a proposal, which targets temporary foreign workers (TFWs) and foreign graduate students.
It will allow applicants with managerial, professional, technical or trade work experience to become permanent residents and eventually Canadian citizens.
RICHARD GILBERT
staff writer

Read more…

U of O professor leads program to leverage immigrant skills
Two employees work at their desks when a company-wide e-mail arrives in their inboxes, advertising a management-level job opening.
The first employee, a Canadian, reads the posting and decides he’s got nothing to lose by applying, and fires off his resume. But the second employee, a recent immigrant, notices the job posting was sent to the entire company and doesn’t immediately see it as relevant. Besides, in his experience at companies with a top-down management style, employees often don’t see themselves as individuals seeking their own rewards.
By Peter Kovessy, Ottawa Business Journal Staff
Wed, Aug 20, 2008 3:00 PM EST

Read more…

Burgeoning research literature, commissioned studies, court rulings, and media reports have repeatedly sounded alarm bells on the continuing employment inequities for Canadian immigrants, especially visible minority populations; some even debunking popular notions of immigrants lacking sound education or language skills. Yet, little has changed in terms of inequitable outcomes and in the face of bleak job realities; the very best immigrants head south or go elsewhere for better economic prospects.
The recent findings of the July 18 Statistics Canada study entitled, “The Canadian Immigrant Labour Market in 2007: Analysis by Region of Post-Secondary Education,” reveals higher jobless rates for new immigrants irrespective of their level of education.

Read more…

Waterloo, August 12, 2008 — The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today announced the details of the Canadian Experience Class, a proposed new avenue for immigration for certain temporary foreign workers and foreign student graduates with Canadian work experience. Unlike other existing programs, this proposal will allow an applicant’s Canadian experience to be considered a key selection factor when immigrating to Canada.

Read more…