Canadian Labour Congress: Migrant Workers

Migrant Workers Dept: I first learned of the use of temporary migrant IT workers in Canadian banks from a Toronto-based bank IT worker back in October 2012, when I was presenting on temporary labour migration at the Academics Stand Against Poverty Conference at Ryerson University. At the time this didnt shock me. This is because in 2009 I had analyzed province- and occupation-specific data on migrant workers entering Canada through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program TFWP obtained by the Canadian Labour Congress from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. To my knowledge, data to this specificity has not been released since but in analyzing the figures, what stood out is the number of temporary migrants being employed in so-called skilled and high skilled occupations in which labour supply was high in Canada, according to The Star. A few examples from the data help paint the picture. Between 2004 and 2008, a total of 9,089 work permits were issued to migrant computer analysts and programmers employed by Ontario firms. A total of 9,989 work permits were issued to migrant engineers employed by Ontario firms, with a high of 2,351 permits in 2006 and The Royal Bank of Canada has now apologized for displacing Canadian workers following the whistle blowing by an IT specialist that revealed the plan to replace some 50 Canada-based RBC workers with outsourced labour via temporary migrant workers. The issue, however, is ongoing and beyond RBC. Canadian banks and other employers have been importing temporary migrant IT workers for various projects for some time, and they will continue to do so - likely with ample support of governments. Though little discussed, after Alberta, Ontario holds second place for employers hiring temporary migrant workers through the TFWP. In addition to IT workers, large numbers of temporary migrant engineers of various specialties were being used by Ontario employers between 2004 and 2008 despite high unemployment and underemployment among Ontario-based engineers and IT workers. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.