My analysis covered the implementation of the pilot program in Alberta and British Columbia. The program reduced the processing time for approvals from five months to five days. For businesses, that drastically reduced the waiting time for access to foreign workers and the cost. There was a list of specific jobs for which employers could get authorization in five days instead of five months.
In my analysis of those jobs, I found that local workers were affected and unemployment rose. The unemployment rate for those jobs was around 6% or 7%. There was another group of jobs for which the unemployment rate was 11%. That is a little strange because the fact that there was 11% unemployment in a group of jobs clearly indicates that there were Canadian workers available. Nevertheless, a list of those jobs was drawn up, and employers had speedy access to foreign workers. The impact on unemployed workers was quite drastic.