Human Resources Committee on May 11th, 2016

[Paul Thompson]

Your question is twofold.

First, I would say that when we do a labour market impact assessment, we look at a specific position with a specific employer. We consider whether there is a labour shortage in this sector. We look specifically at that position. That is why we look at a specific offer of employment from a specific employer.

As to the process relating to workers' rights, there are certain avenues for reporting worker abuse.

There's a tip line in place, and we have put in place very rigorous inspection processes for the workplace to look at the situation across the board. There's a high volume of inspections, and as of December 2015, very serious penalties have been put in place, with fines that can go up to $1 million per employer for reports of abuse or non-compliance with the provisions of the program. Those are a few points that would happen.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

That is two minutes, sir.

Monsieur Long.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the presenters.

I apologize in advance for cutting you short.

I live in Saint John, New Brunswick, and represent Saint John—Rothesay. I worked in Charlotte County in the aquaculture and fisheries industry for 15 years.

I think it's important as a committee that we get this right and take as wide a range of opinion as we can. I think it's no secret that the comments by the MP from New Brunswick Southwest about paying “whities” to stay home while brownies worked was a very controversial comment in my riding.

I have many questions, but I think I'll focus on Economic and Social Development Canada stats that show there were 3,390 leads given about non-compliance with the TFW program since April of 2014. That has only led to 340 inspections, roughly 10% of the total tips. Could that low rate of investigation have anything to do with the $4.5 million cut to programs involved in monitoring TFW during the last government?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

You have about 40 seconds, please.

[Paul Thompson]

I would say the capacity in the program has been augmented significantly, which is one of the main reasons for the imposition of the higher fee. The $1,000 fee has gone into supporting a more rigorous process. That's both the front-end review of the applications as well as the compliance regime, with a target of one in four employers for inspections as we're moving into this new regime.

Janet, do you want to add anything in terms of the—

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Very briefly.

[Janet Goulding, Director General, Governance, Policy Coordination and Planning, Department of Industry]

Yes, I would just add that I think clients' resources have been beefed up. Also, every tip that comes into the tip line is reviewed, and appropriate action is taken. They're all screened and triaged, then appropriate action is taken.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Ms. Ashton, please.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you.

First, I want to express my concern that in a study as important as this one, we are getting very little time with you. I hope as a committee we can find some way to redress that. We all know that the temporary foreign worker program has been a source of much scandal as well as shame over the way temporary foreign workers have been treated in our country.

I want to begin with asking you, as officials, if you could perhaps add to a statement that we understand Minister Mihychuk made on April 18 about her intention to end the temporary foreign worker program. Would you have any information on that statement, which was made in a public speech?

[Paul Thompson]

I can't speak for the minister. The minister has a strong interest, as she has stated many times, in finding Canadians first for all the available jobs. I know she also is very interested in hearing the results of the review of this committee to guide the work going forward.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

That is great to hear. I'm wondering, though, how that statement is in line with the fact that on February 19 changes were made to allow for seasonal exemptions for temporary foreign workers, particularly in fish plants out east. I'm not sure how that logic is tied in to those two statements. I'm wondering how many temporary foreign workers have been approved in 2016, and certainly in that February and March window.

[Paul Thompson]

Just to clarify, are you asking how many have been approved under that special exemption?

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Yes.

[Paul Thompson]

In the range of 600 TFWs have been processed, which is up.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

That is a significant number and certainly doesn't truly fall in line with the statement about getting rid of the program.

I will move on to ask another question, and it's about on-site inspections.

What was made clear to us is that despite concerns around the lack of inspections, an Order Paper question we placed a few months ago revealed that the department had only made eight on-site inspections between 2013 and 2015.

Compliance with the regulatory framework to protect workers from abuse has not been a priority, as we've seen in the previous government, and we'd certainly like to hear what the plan is on your front.

Of course, we're thinking about instances of abuse that have taken place, including that of Mexican worker Ivan Guerrero, who drowned in May of 2014 after having posted a video describing the abuse he was facing in his workplace.

I did hear Mr. Manicom speak of the recent changes and commitments to on-site inspections. Eight seems like a pretty appalling number in a two-year window, so I'm wondering what the plan is, going forward.

[Paul Thompson]

There's been a considerable increase in the capacity for inspections. I'm informed that we have about 85 inspectors on staff who are now doing inspections across the country, so—

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Do you have any numbers as to how many—

[Paul Thompson]

It is safe to say that the rate of inspections is increasing, as that capacity—

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Perhaps you could share that number in terms of the last seven months.

Finally, just quickly, in terms of the live-in caregiver program, the Minister of Immigration previously tabled a private member's bill in the last Parliament that would centralize the hiring of caregivers in smaller numbers of specialized agencies.

We have heard concerns that recruitment agencies for caregivers are a source of abuse for the workers. We think of the stories of Kristina Torres and Teta Bayan, stories that were quite compelling. I am wondering if the Department of Immigration has met with civil society representatives, advocates for live-in caregivers, or others to deal with this matter.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

You have about 30 seconds.

[David Manicom]

I understand that the minister has had some meetings with caregiver agencies, but officials have not at this point, so I can't comment further on that issue. I would just like to point out that there no longer is a live-in caregiver program.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

If you could provide any written information on this current program and the interest in giving recruitment agencies more power, it would be much appreciated.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you very much.

Member of Parliament Sangha, you have four minutes, please.

[Ramesh Sangha, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses who are here today. Thank you very much for taking the time to come here.

I am from Brampton Centre. Brampton is an area where we get international students. Humber College, Sheridan College, and other colleges are full of international students. Once they have completed their courses, they go under the CEC class for permanent residence.

They have many problems. There are many obstacles in between gaining temporary work experience and applying for permanent residence. Those are generally.... Earlier it was that your trade is not in the right line, or you can't apply in that trade, or you don't have the proper number of hours, and there were many other obstacles.

Mr. Manicom, my question is for you. Could you explain to me how we can remove those obstacles to give maximum benefit to the people who are putting in their money, effort, and everything else after coming here? They spend their time—their youth, their better days—and their money on the schools and colleges with the idea of having permanent residence here, but later they have to face obstacles. How can we get rid of those obstacles?

[David Manicom]

It is quite challenging to answer that question. I am not sure which specific obstacles you would be referring to. The number of international students who become permanent residents every year in Canada is rising steadily, and we will certainly want to encourage it to do so. Canada has about the most generous post-graduate work permit program in the world for international students.

That said, access to permanent residence in our economic classes is highly competitive. Our express entry system is designed to benefit those who have the highest skills, the highest language standards, and so forth. That is the way it is designed to work. International students are benefiting from it in very large numbers, and we hope that will continue. Our minister has asked the department to look at measures to further increase the access of international students to permanent residence.

As for more specific obstacles, we would have to have a more granular discussion about what exactly is meant, but the program is certainly designed to facilitate permanent residence for international students.