Petition in Support of the Reinstatement of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

The recent suspension on the Temporary foreign worker program has been caused by the abuse of the program by some companies. The suspension of the program comes with the idea that Canadians should be first in line for any available job openings. Canadians do in most cases have the first shot at available job openings, the problem isn't the idea that Canadians don't have the first shot at available job openings it is in the fact the positions that these temporary foreign workers are filling are the positions that the Canadians don't want. I manage a Little Caesars in Calgary, Alberta and have seen first hand how hard it is to find Canadians that want to work in the food service industry. Most of those that do apply for available job positions are Canadian students who do make up 92% of our employees, students however are not able to work during the day or late at night.

Of the few canadian workers that we have found and hired for these positions, the story always goes the same way. They say on their resumes that they are available to work whenever we need them and that they want full time hours, only to find that this is not the case. They repeatly fail to show up for their shifts as well as provide us with limited days and times in which they are available to work. These are just some of the problems that the TFW program is meant to and does solve. These employees that we have now hired and gone through the expense to bring to Canada allow us to keep our business not just open but for the hours that our customers want. These employes that we have found through the temporary foreign workers program have been found to be not only reliable but essential to the running of our business.

They have all left their families and lives behind in order to provide monetary support and to pursue the dream of becoming Canadians.

It is unfair of the canadian government to suspend the entire program for the restaurant industry and put the livelihoods of not just the TFW but also the owners of small businesses at risk because of the few companies that do abuse the system. While there may be problems and abuses with in the temporary foreign worker program the total shut down of the program is not the solution.