The Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Perspective: an Interview with Jason Foster

In the spring the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) exploded into the headlines in the spring with reports of RBC replacing Canadian workers with ones from India. While researching the changes to the TFWP under Harper's Conservatives I came across a brilliant paper in JustLabour by Jason Foster, an academic at Athabasca University, which lays out the various problems arising from Canada's increasing reliance on migrant labour.

I decided to interview Mr. Foster about his research and the result is probably one of the best interviews I've done to date. The interview goes to heart of the problems arising from the TFWP and the Conservative's moves to destablize Canada's economy by pitting migrants workers against Canadians in a race to the bottom. The interview appears below and following it I provide some additional resources on the overarching issue of migrant workers in Canada's labour markets.

Jason Foster

Q: Historically, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program was used to bring in highly skilled professionals from developed nations, now we're seeing a shift to bringing in low-skilled workers from developing nations. Why was this change made? What's behind it?

A: The shift is due to a policy decision by the Liberal federal government in 2002 to open the TFWP to lower-skilled occupations and further entrenched by the Conservatives in 2006. At the time, the government justified the move to address growing labour shortages. They were always rather vague about what kind of occupations were experiencing shortages. They usually pointed to oilsands and other construction. However, in hindsight, we now see that the bulk of workers coming under the newly expanded program were in occupations such as retail clerks, cooks, hospitality, hotel cleaners, etc. We also know that a wide range of industry groups, including retail and hospitality employers, had been lobbying for help in addressing their shortages. The policy is clearly designed to address those concerns and make it easier for a wider range of employers to bring in foreign workers.

Q: 2002 seems to have been a pivotal year for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, can you explain what the Low Skill Pilot Project was? Was this a significant change in the Federal Government's immigration policy?

A: The Low Skill Pilot was, at the time, a temporary measure to expand the TFWP to include lower skilled workers. It has since become a permanent feature of the program. This was not only significant - it was a sea change for immigration and labour market policy. In essence, it was a decision to shift the policy away from permanent settlement to reliance on migrant workers to meet labour market needs. Now, this shift away from permanent immigration had been happening for some time, as immigration scholars will tell you. However, the magnitude of this particular change is unprecedented. It is fundamentally altering how our labour market operates.

Q: How did the global financial crisis and the subsequent recession impact how employers use the Temporary Foreign Worker Program?

A: Less than you might think. There was a temporary slowdown in new arrivals of foreign workers for about a year, but the total number of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in the country never really dropped and quickly started growing again. The employers who were laying off workers during the crisis and those using TFWs were different employers, largely. Hotels, fast food restaurants, retail stores are the biggest users of foreign workers, and their demand for them did not ebb.

Q: As of late we're seeing more and more employers bringing low-skilled workers to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in sectors such as retail, construction, food services, hotels, and manufacturing. Is this a significant change? If so, why? 

A: This is a very significant change. It has changed the TFWP from a program for high-end occupations with international labour pools (scientists, university professors, actors, musicians, etc.) to a program staffing lower end jobs. As a result it has distorted the labour market, keeping wages and working conditions in those sectors lower than would otherwise have been the case had foreign workers not been an option to employers. Experience in Europe  is that these employers become dependent upon the flow of migrant workers, creating migrant worker ghettos.

Minister of Immigration Jason Kenny

Q: Despite solid evidence that the nature of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is changing, the Federal Government continues to assert that nothing has changed. You quote Jason Kenney, the Minister of Immigration, in your paper - given the realities of the program are his public statements accurate? If not, how so?

A: Mr. Kenney's remarks were what sparked me to write the paper, to demonstrate that his argument no longer held true. He argued that the program was to address short-term labour shortages. The evidence following the economic downturn demonstrated that TFWs are now fulfilling a permanent place in the labour market. Of course, in recent weeks with all the negative publicity surrounding Royal Bank and HD Mining in B.C., Mr. Kenney has changed his tune somewhat. He now admits it is being used for purposes not originally intended. We are yet to see any reforms to the program to actually fix the problems it has created, but at least he is now admitting he was wrong (sort of).

Q: Can you explain how the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is impacting the labour market outcomes of vulnerable segments of the labour force such as youths, Aboriginals, and recent immigrants?

A: The expanded TFWP has two main effects on the labour market. First, it prevents wages and working conditions from rising as they normally would in those industries. This artificially benefits employers and makes those jobs less attractive to workers seeking better conditions. Second, we have found that the expansion of the TFWP has worsened labour market outcomes for new immigrants, aboriginals, youths and other groups who traditionally have weaker attachments to the labour market. In other words, those groups are in direct competition with TFWs for jobs at the lower end of the labour market. The increased use of TFWs has pushed them to the side to a certain degree, making it more difficult for them to get ahead.

Q: In your paper you raise the prospect that the increased deployment of migrant workers in the labour market will cause wage suppression, skew the bargaining power of employers, and block attempts at organizing workplaces. Can you explain some of the deeper ramifications and stealth changes that have been implemented over the last ten years?

A: To put it succinctly, the expanded TFWP tips the balance of power in the labour market even more firmly toward employers. It is best seen in context of a series of policies in the past decade that disadvantage workers. Changes to employment standards in many provinces have increased "flexibility" at the cost of worker protection. Anti-union legislation aims to reduce workers' ability to organize in their interests. Erosion of labour standards enforcement lowers the risk of breaching employment laws for employers. With foreign workers, expanding the labour pool to include a group of workers less able to defend their rights, due to their precarious residency status, undermines the ability of all workers to defend their rights and demand better treatment.

Q: Migrant workers brought to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program have a reduced set of human, civil, and labour rights and typically are more compliant to worker demands. Are we witnessing the creation of an underclass in Canada?

A: The term I like to use (which I borrow from Leah Vosko) is "partial citizenship". They are only partly included in the protections afforded Canadian citizens, and therefore partly excluded. TFWs are more likely to be exploited and taken advantage of, due to their vulnerable position. It is problematic. The experience in Europe has not been a positive one, where hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are excluded from citizenship, yet do important work for the society. It can breed resentment and tension. I fear we are heading down a similar road.

Q: The Federal Government brought in some limited reforms this week, but clearly these measures fall short of addressing the problems arising out of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. In your opinion, what changes are necessary?

A: The program needs a fundamental re-think. It is designed to be a small-scale, high skill program and lacks sufficient protections for both the foreign workers and to prevent labour market distortion. What is needed is a full scale evaluation of how we structure our labour market, and what steps we take to ensure everyone capable of work has decent, safe, well-paying work. If we truly have labour shortages, we should be addressing those through education and through permanent immigration. Most TFWs who come to Canada want to stay permanently. We need to revamp our immigration system to allow greater numbers of permanent residents. If we did that the TFWP would be unnecessary and could go back to its original purpose.

Thanks for the great interview Jason! I have culled a variety of resources on the issue of the use of migrant workers in Canada's labour markets. Labour law guru Judy Fudge wrote a paper linking precarious work to the rise of migrant workers. David Doorey's Law of Work blog recently posted a guest blog post from Manoj Dias-Abey, a Queen's Ph.D student, about reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Leah Vosko, a York University professor, has written extensively on citizenship and migrant - her book Managing the Margins provides excellent insight into regulating precarious employment. Finally, below there's a video of   Fay Faraday, a prominent Toronto lawyer, discussing the insecurity that migrant workers experience in Canada's labour markets.