A local business owner says the current discussion surrounding temporary foreign workers lacks focus on solving the province's real issue: its acute labour shortage.
Rob Chiasson, owner of St. Albert's four McDonald's restaurants, gave a speech to the St. Albert & District Chamber of Commerce during its monthly luncheon meeting on Wednesday.
He received a standing ovation for his remarks that the government needs to support business owners and work with them to find a solution to the province's labour shortage.
The solution is not eliminating the temporary foreign worker program but reforming it, he said.
"The real solution I know is complex," he said.
"I think it involves a reform to employment insurance, I think it involves a reform to immigration. Nominee programs need to be reviewed and I think ultimately it needs to be solved through immigration."
Chiasson said the government created the temporary foreign worker program to enable employers "to meet short-term skill and labour shortages when Canadian or permanent residents are not available."
Following news regarding the exploitation of some foreign workers, the federal government decided to cap the percentage of low-wage workers an employer can apply for – 10 per cent by 2016 – and the hours that can be allotted to them per business location.
That means more than 100,000 foreign workers will be forced to leave the country by 2016. At the same time, the government predicts Alberta will be short 96,000 general workers by 2016.
Business owners are now expected to attract Canadian workers by raising their wages, he said.
Yet unemployment numbers in some other provinces such as in the Maritimes are already 10 per cent and more, he said.
People simply do not move to Alberta to work lower-skilled jobs, especially if they can get a higher income flying in and out of the oilsands, he said.
"Today, Canadians are better educated than they have ever been and there are more people going to university," he said.
"And so jobs like working in landscaping, shoveling gravel, washing dishes or working on a farm, Canadians don't want to do that anymore."
Chiasson expects customer service will decline as a result of the labour shortage. Many businesses, including McDonald's, will not be able to stay open 24/7, he said.
Even if employers increased wages, the result would be wage inflation and even higher turnover rates among smaller businesses, he said.
Businesses that cannot raise their pay will suffer and lose employees, he said. This could affect services such as child and senior care, but also the economy, he said.
"If Alberta does not attract enough people with the knowledge and skills to fill our labour shortages, many projects will have to be delayed or abandoned," he said.
No shortage, says labour federation
There is no labour shortage, said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
McGowan said the government's calculations are based on a complicated, and inconclusive system unlike that used by other provinces and economists.
The federation has now released its own study, which demonstrates the economy in Alberta is rather balanced, he said. There are sectors affected by a "sporadic shortage," such as the welding industry, but they are isolated and few, he said.
"There is no evidence to support Mr. Chiasson's argument that there is a crippling labour shortage," he said.
"If there is a shortage there is only a shortage of people willing to work for the wages that people like Mr. Chiasson are willing to offer."
McGowan said the temporary foreign worker program has allowed the low-wage service sector to keep wages purposely low.
Their wages have not kept up with the rising cost of living and the provincial inflation rate, he said. But if the low-wage sector wants to attract Canadian workers, they will have to adjust their pay – to more than $15 an hour, he said.
He added that businesses such as McDonald's have used the temporary foreign worker program as a first choice because it allows them to hire full-time employees that are available at any time of the day.
"Before the Harper government dramatically expanded the program, employers like Mr. Chiasson actually had to manage their labour force in terms of hours and scheduling," he said.
The fast-food industry has always been at the lower end of the labour market, providing employment to primarily students, seniors, new immigrants and some disabled people, he said.
Even if they were to raise their wages, they would not steal employees from other industries because welders, electricians and nurses "do not flip burgers," he said.
"The problem for these businesses is not with a labour shortage. The problem is with the business model itself," he said.
"If some of these businesses fail because they build their business on this unacceptable business model then so be it. Let them fail."
Untapped workers in province, says study
The University of Alberta's Institute for Public Economics released a study in 2013 that suggested there are some 75,000 additional workers that could be tapped into within 10 years.
That is if employers change their approach to working with aboriginal, youth, disabled and mature workers, said Dr. Robert Ascah, a fellow with the Institute.
"It's a long-term solution," he said.
"It's not that you are going to have tens of thousands of aboriginal workers pouring into the marketplace because there are still issues around education, there are issues around cultural sensitivities."
Ascah said the study, An Examination of Alberta Labour Markets, was created to address the risk of labour shortages, including in the retail, hotel and food services.
To counteract possible shortages, the report's authors developed recommendations to government and industry that would help them access otherwise untapped labour groups.
Suggestions included adopting a provincial mentorship initiative to reduce the number of dropouts in apprenticeship programs, and addressing educational obstacles in the aboriginal community.
It also suggested reforming the immigration policy to target admission of high-skilled workers and international students, and return the temporary foreign worker program to its original purpose of meeting only temporary shortfalls, said Ascah.
He emphasized these changes will take years and employers must be willing to examine their productivity and work environment to accommodate more of these workers.
He added that the study had received a fair amount of pushback from certain industries.
"The issue becomes to what extent are small businesses and medium-sized business undertaking initiatives to solve their temporary employment programs with domestic mature workers or aboriginal workers or disabled workers?" he said.
Change immigration system, says Chiasson
Chiasson agreed that many businesses have become accustomed to the program because they have no other way of addressing the lack of full-time employees.
And yes, McDonald's was not always open 24 hours but life has changed, he said. Many Canadians expect this service today, he said.
To expect that businesses "figure it out" is irresponsible, he said. The government's role is to support business not have it find its own solution, he said.
He suggested keeping the cap for hiring temporary foreign workers at 30 per cent until another way to address the labour shortage can be found.
He also suggested the government change its policy on immigration and create a similar system for low-skilled workers as is now available for attracting high-skilled workers.
"I'm not really sure what that looks like, perhaps some form of graduated system where you come to the country and demonstrate you are a great candidate," he said. "And then you can become part of the community."
