Evidence of meeting #69 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was union.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Mr. Chairman, given that there is some time left, I wonder if we might continue questioning.
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
I was going to ask Mr. Oakey about his opinion on using temporary foreign workers. They certainly can be paid a bit lower wages. It will save taxpayers even more money. Is it an area that you think some of the companies you represent should be involved with?
President, Merit Canada
I don't know in what context they can pay less than they pay for Canadian workers.
President, Merit Canada
No, even before. The 15% differential was only if you were paying your own employees 15% below the prevailing wage, so you couldn't actually bring in—
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Do any of the companies that you represent hire temporary foreign workers?
NDP
President, Merit Canada
All different trades, depending on what the project requires.
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
You normally would advertise for a Canadian worker. For how long do you normally advertise?
President, Merit Canada
It's company and bid specific. If you win a bid and you realize you're four electricians short and you need to start the bid in three weeks, you apply for an accelerated labour market opinion and try to speed up the process—
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Which is about a one-day turnaround, right? You just advertise the job for one day and if no one applies, then that's the accelerated part.
President, Merit Canada
I just want to set the record straight in terms of at least construction. Temporary foreign workers are extremely expensive. It is—
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
That's not my question, Mr. Oakey. I'm just saying I know whether they're expensive or not. I've seen all the stats. I used to be the immigration critic for the New Democrats.
I'm just saying, would you encourage the companies you represent to go the accelerated route to get an LMO, the labour market opinion, in order to hire some temporary foreign workers?
President, Merit Canada
No, we would encourage our member companies to hire locally first, regionally second, nationally third, and then if all those pools are exhausted, to look for temporary foreign workers.
President, Merit Canada
As I said, it's member and bid specific. It's impossible to have a generalization on it.
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Surely you would have some kind of standard. How long do you think it would be fair for a company to advertise the job so that some of the members who are out there, who are not unionized but need to know that this job is open, can have a chance to see it? Does your company keep a list of all the members? Does your Merit Canada have a list of all the, say, electricians who are available across Canada, or even just in the GTA, for example?
Representative, Power-Tek Electrical Services Inc., Merit Canada
I can comment very briefly on that.
As an example, I do not know of one company in the electrical contracting business in Ontario that has any temporary foreign workers. Peers who are out west, specifically in the oil sands industry, have jobs on their job boards constantly. They need so many people that they can't fill those positions.
We tell our young apprentices or would-be apprentices in Ontario to go out west if they want a job. That's where they'll find opportunity. We can't hire them in Ontario because of apprentice ratio regulations.
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
But Mr. Oakey just said that under Merit Canada a large group of companies do hire construction workers.
President, Merit Canada
I didn't say that. I said that some of our companies use the temporary foreign worker program as it's available to them.
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
No doubt, but is that something you would like to encourage more or less of?
