Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to all members of the committee for this opportunity.
I want to begin by expressing my appreciation for the committee's commitment to examine the temporary foreign worker program and its impact on Canada's labour market. The committee's willingness to look closely at how the program is used and misused means a great deal to the workers and apprentices I represent in British Columbia. Thank you for taking this issue seriously.
My name is Doug Parton and I'm the business manager of Ironworkers Local 97 in British Columbia, which represents more than 2,400 members across B.C. Our members build bridges, towers, dams, LNG sites, public transit and industrial projects that keep our province and country powered and moving. Ironworkers take great pride in our craft. We invest heavily in apprenticeship, skills development and safety. Every person in our trade knows they are part of something bigger: building communities and building Canada.
I appreciate the committee's work on this study because the way the temporary foreign worker program's construction stream currently operates affects every part of our workforce, including safety, training and our ability to provide for our families. The construction stream was supposed to be a measure of last resort when no local labour was available. In British Columbia, and particularly in our trade, it has been used far too often and not as intended. Employers are using this program as a business model for cheaper, untrained labour. They're claiming shortages that do not exist and using TFWs to bypass Canadian workers who are ready, available and fully trained, and in whom we have invested.
The federal job bank data compounds this problem. Those posted wages are as much as $10.44 per hour below what workers actually earn under collective agreements. That flawed benchmark allows employers to justify bringing in TFWs while avoiding the real prevailing wages that were freely negotiated and that truly reflect the market. These agreements would not exist if they did not reflect actual market conditions. This is not just about fairness. It's about our ability to make a living. When federal wage benchmarks undervalue construction work and ignore negotiated benefit packages, it drives down the market and leaves workers struggling to afford housing, food and transportation in the same communities they help build.
Meanwhile, the number of TFWs in the construction stream remains disproportionately high, despite a strong local workforce and record investments in training by the unionized construction sector. Every unnecessary LMIA approval weakens apprenticeship recruitment, undermines pathways for young Canadians and creates unsafe work sites, where workers may not be familiar with Canadian safety standards or expectations. Safety is not negotiable in our trade. Ironwork is dangerous and technical, and it demands rigorous training. When loopholes allow unverified labour onto work sites, everybody is at risk. Safety cannot be sacrificed for cost savings.
This is why I am grateful the committee has chosen to study this issue. Your attention gives us hope that meaningful reform is possible.
Our recommendations remain straightforward.
Require union and local building trade consultation before approving any trade-related LMIA so that accurate assessments of worker availability can be made. If Canadian workers are available, the employer should not be granted an LMIA.
Replace the job bank wage standard with accurate, collectively bargained prevailing wages that reflect a livable wage and the real cost of living in regions like British Columbia.
Restrict TFW access to employers that invest in training Canadians and have a clear apprenticeship plan to return to a domestic workforce.
Pause construction stream LMIA approvals while a proper review and new framework are put in place.
We support immigration done right. We respect every worker who contributes to building this country, but we must ensure the system reflects the Canadian values of fairness, safety and opportunity for all. Our message is simple: Invest in Canadian workers first. When given the tools and training, we will meet the needs of this country with a safe, skilled and homegrown workforce.
To that end, Local 97 continues to be the number one supplier of ironworkers in the province of B.C., with an estimated 26,811,399 hours in the last 10 years.
To date, we have three temporary foreign workers. Certainly, at a time when 350 pulp mill workers are laid off on Vancouver Island, there are skills transferred that we can apply and simply upskill these unemployed workers. This is where our focus should be and not on the TFW program.
I thank you and all parties represented here today for looking for a path forward. Thank you, again, for your time and for continuing to address this important issue.