Consultation around hiring through TFW Program
ALPA also urges the federal government to consult the union representing impacted employees during the LMIA process.
“There should be considerations required when assessing highly skilled, licensed, unionized workers employed under terms set out through collective bargaining. In this case, the Program fails to encourage the employer, WestJet Inc., to address the reality of its internal labour issues in a meaningful way.
“As we have said before, ALPA Canada supports legal immigration, which includes a stable pathway to citizenship, with labour mobility rights. However, we do not support the status of these employees in Canada when it is under the control and subject to the whims of an employer.”
It is through the LMIA process that the employer needs to show that there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job.
Overall, the number of positions approved to be filled by temporary foreign workers in 2023 stood at 239,646, more than double the 108,988 recorded in 2018, CBC previously reported, citing data from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).