End of temporary foreign worker program would harm rural communities, says employer

The general manager of one of Victoria County’s largest employers is speaking out against Pierre Poilievre’s call to scrap Canada’s temporary foreign worker program, arguing that the federal Conservative leader lacks an understanding of the challenges faced by rural communities in filling positions.

Osborne Burke of Victoria Co-operative Fisheries in Neils Harbour, N.S., expressed his disagreement with Poilievre’s assertion that the program should be eliminated because it has flooded the market with cheap labor, making it harder for young Canadians to find work. Burke, a past president of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, challenged Poilievre by asking where the unemployed workers are who are supposedly looking for jobs.

According to Burke, the co-op first utilized the temporary foreign worker program in 2013, bringing in 10 workers. This year, that number has grown to 35, with the workers primarily hailing from Mexico. Burke emphasized that these workers are content to work in the northern Cape Breton community, where there is fierce competition for labor among various industries.

The Conservatives have proposed eliminating the temporary foreign worker program but creating a separate program specifically for agricultural labor that is hard to fill. Canada already has the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, which allows employers to bring in workers from Mexico and other participating Caribbean countries.

Advocates for migrant workers have criticized Poilievre’s stance, arguing that it does more harm than good for individuals seeking to support their families. Stacey Gomez, the executive director of the Centre for Migrant Worker Rights Nova Scotia, stated that Poilievre’s comments misrepresent the reality of the temporary foreign worker program and unfairly target a vulnerable community.

Gomez refuted Poilievre’s claim that temporary foreign workers are displacing young Canadians in the workforce, highlighting that migrant workers are typically employed in sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, and trucking, where youth are not commonly employed during the summer months.

The debate over the future of Canada’s temporary foreign worker program continues, with stakeholders on all sides advocating for solutions that address the labor needs of rural communities while also ensuring fair treatment for migrant workers.