For the labor market, what kind problems might undermine Canadian economy?

Question

And what have the facts shown till now as a result of Free Trade Agreement?

Answer 1

Canada inducements to our workers not only in terms of high salary and attractive fringe benefits but also in the prospect of their becoming permanent residents or naturalized citizens in those lands of hope and opportunity.

The US is highly selective of the types of workers it will admit. Suffering from a severe shortage of health workers, it has relaxed its immigration policy to allow mainly the entry of foreign nurses.

There has been a surge of nurses’ migration to the US in the past few decades. Because of the continuing heavy demand, Filipino families have chosen nursing as the career of their children.  doctors desiring to have a share of the market have enrolled in nursing schools to qualify them as nurses and work also in the US.

Thousands of peaple have also entered the US as teachers. But being a “maidless” country, it has not shown any inclination to hire foreign domestic helpers.

The US’ restrictive immigration policy has driven workers to Canada as their next favorite destination point. Since the mid-1980s, thousands of workers maids have migrated to Canada. After two years working there, they acquired permanent resident status and were free to apply for any job befitting their qualifications.

The labor attaché to Singapore at the time when thousands of workers domestic helpers there were recruited by local placement agencies to work in Canada. Similar recruitment operations took place in Hong Kong and other countries where workers maids had worked and acquired the work experience required by Canadian employers.

Today, Canada has enormously expanded its labor requirements to other fields. It has a need for 1.8 million foreign workers, both in the professional and skilled categories, over the next 10 years.

To facilitate the recruitment of workers, the governments of three Canadian provinces—Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba—have signed a labor agreement with Labor Secretary Arturo Brion. A fourth province, Alberta, will sign a similar accord next month.

Brion has set up a Canadian Desk at the DOLE Building in Intramuros to handle queries and coordinate with concerned agencies on matters relating to the deployment of workers to Canada.

Under the agreements, all hirings will be made through licensed placement agencies which are properly authorized by the governments of the four Canadian provinces to recruit workers. Work applicants are advised to check with the  list of properly accredited placement agencies.

No placement fees will be collected from applicants as recruitment expenses will be shouldered by Canadian employers.

Most of the skilled workers will be hired by Alberta province which has a standing requirement of 400,000 artisans in the next two years to work in its booming oil and gas industry.

British Columbia is in need of 30,000 hospitality and construction workers as it prepares to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. Those with specific skills will be hired as contract and permanent migrant workers

Canada will continue to hire domestic helpers, health care workers and professionals, with the privilege to become immigrants and naturalized Canadian citizens.

Brion describes the labor agreements as a “milestone in the national efforts to ensure decent working conditions and the continuous training and successful reintegration of OFWs.” Their primary goal is to guarantee the protection and well-being of workers in Canada.

The labor department has similar labor agreements with South Korea and the United Arab Emirates under which workers deployment will be handled by the protection of overseas workers is written into the accords.

A provision for the employment of professional and medical workers in Japan is included in the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement which is pending ratification by the Senate.

Private recruitment agencies have been leery of the labor department’s government-to-government arrangements with some countries in the hiring of workers. There is no ground for alarm because the number of workers hired under the accords is only a tiny fraction of the country’s total deployment figure, mostly handled by licensed placement firms