Thank you for your question.
First, I think that in order to help employers, we definitely have to cut the wait times in immigration cases. When employers decide to recruit internationally, it is to meet immediate needs. So we have to find a way to increase, to speed up the process, to support our employers.
We need to think about a way of somehow accrediting our employers. The first international recruiting effort might be a bit longer and more thorough, but accreditation would allow employers to be more autonomous when it comes to international recruiting, and that would enable them to move forward faster. That might be done by a telephone call or videoconference, or an office closer to the employer could accredit it at the start.
Second, we have to encourage keeping people in the jobs. Several years ago, it was harder to change employers. You had to show that the employer was not in compliance and was treating its employees badly. I think that is a good thing and we need to encourage reporting. We also need to make foreign workers autonomous and I understand that they can be more vulnerable.
However, I think it's important that an employer or a company that decides to recruit internationally be better protected too, because these companies do their planning for a two- or three-year period. At present, with social media, our workers are approached by companies in other provinces who already have no-name LMIAs. In a week, the worker can change companies and simply start working.
If we really want to help our businesses, we have to cut wait times and protect against workers rushing to leave.