Province to assess impact of Temporary Foreign Workers Program

The province has launched an in-depth look into the impact of the arrival of thousands of temporary foreign workers on Alberta’s workforce, to help improve theTemporary Foreign Worker program.

The program is designed to accommodate the mutual needs of industries who need workers, and foreigners who want jobs and a better life here in Canada. However, the program expanded during the boom and there was little planning about what would happen to the workers when the economic explosion came to an end.

“While our focus will always be jobs for Albertans and Canadians first, it is important that we recognize the contributions of temporary foreign workers to our province – making them feel welcome and included in our communities is simply the right thing to do,” said Thomas Lukaszuk, Minister of Employment and Immigration in a press release.

Lukaszuk has asked his Parliamentary Assistant, Teresa Woo-Paw, to lead a review of the impact of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program on Alberta and bring forward her findings and recommendations by spring 2011.

“The Temporary Foreign Worker Program helped to quickly fill temporary jobs during Alberta’s boom, it is a program that Alberta values and will always welcome,” Woo-Paw said. “Now that we have some space to breathe, let’s make sure we plan and have the right services in place for the future.”

Many of the workers say they simply can’t afford to go home because they arrived here in debt after paying shady recruiters thousands of dollars.

Many never believed their situation would be temporary.

Today, the Province committed $850,000 to social service agencies that help get these foreign workers settled.

More than 60,000 temporary foreign workers live and work in Alberta. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program falls under provincial responsibility but it’s the provincial legislation that governs the working conditions while they’re here.

Starting Monday on the News Hour, Global News reporter Jill Croteau will reveal more of the fallout of this program, the political will to change it and some of the positive stories that have emerged from this program.