Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Trucking, construction expect ‘labour crisis’ with new temporary worker rules

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OTTAWA — Dominique Lamothe said the trucking firm she works for will be in trouble once new rules for high-wage temporary foreign workers take effect on Friday.

Groupe Nadeau, a Quebec-based trucking company, has a fleet of around 200 trucks and 1,400 trailers serviced by 70 full-time heavy mechanics. Human resources director Lamothe said half those mechanics are temporary foreign workers.

Most of them were hired through the programs’ high-wage stream, which used to apply to jobs that paid a wage above the median income in that province.

On Oct. 22 Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault announced that the high-wage stream income cap would be increasing to 20 per cent above a province’s median income. This is equivalent to a $5 to $8 per hour pay increase depending on the province or territory.

This change, which came as the national unemployment rate climbed to 6.5 per cent, is expected to mean that 34,000 jobs will move from the high-wage stream to the stricter rules of the low-wage stream. This includes not processing applications in areas of the country where the unemployment rate is above six per cent.

“We will not be able to renew all these work contracts because of this new law. So, if we are not able to renew the contracts, it will be 35 fewer workers in our mechanic shop,” Lamothe said.

Lamothe said Groupe Nadeau would not be able to afford the wage increase to keep their 35 temporary workers’ permits in the high-wage stream once they come up for renewal.

She added they would like to hire more mechanics locally, but there is a skill gap in the applications Group Nadeau is receiving.

“We’re looking at every CV that we are receiving every day, but we still don’t have mechanics who are applying. They’re not in the six per cent who are unemployed,” Lamothe said.

Coupled with Quebec immigration laws, which require a level of French proficiency for permanent residency, Lamothe said they are having a difficult time recruiting and retaining temporary workers.

The number of approved assessments in the transportation sector more than doubled since 2020, according to government data, growing to 11,106 up from 5,495 in 2020.

In the construction sector, another sector where companies are worried about the changes, approvals for temporary workers hit 15,360 in 2023, compared with 4,565 in 2020. Most of those were in the high-wage stream.

Rodrigue Gilbert, president of the Canadian Construction Association, said it’s more difficult to fill construction jobs than the government believes it will be.

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