Las Pymes de Canadá manifiestan su descontento con las políticas restrictivas a la a la entrada de emigrantes extranjeros pues indican que les resultan totalmente necesarios para su desarrollo. Le Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires (PTET) a eu mauvaise presse dernièrement. Le gouvernement fédéral a alors décidé d’y apporter des changements. Toutefois, ceux-ci ont eu pour effet de rendre le processus plus lent et plus coûteux, sans compter que d’autres modifications sont à prévoir. La FCEI a réagi en publiant un livret d’histoires vécues par certains de ses membres afin de rétablir la vérité sur le véritable objectif du PTET et sur ce qui explique pourquoi il est si important pour les PME qui en ont besoin. Recently, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) has received negative media attention, leading to changes that make the program slower and more costly, with more changes yet to come. In response, CFIB has published a book of member stories that help to set the record straight on the real purpose of the TFWP and why it is so essential to the small businesses that rely upon it

1. Making it work
Real stories of small business
and foreign workers

2. Making it work
Real stories of small business
and foreign workers
The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program is
designed to allow companies in Canada to fill certain
jobs they are simply unable to fill with Canadian
workers. This ability to deal with labour shortages is
essential to a well-functioning economy and allows
small businesses, in particular, to grow and create
additional jobs, most of which are filled by Canadians.
The program is in no way intended to give Canadians’
jobs to foreign workers, and those who use the
program for this purpose are abusing the system, plain
and simple.
This storybook was put together to tell the real story of
Canadian small businesses and foreign workers.
What you will read are stories of ordinary businesses
that have tried everything under the sun to hire local,
and have had no luck. Stories of business opportunities
missed because the TFW Program was not sufficiently
nimble. Stories of TFWs who are working hard, filling a
need, and generating opportunity for themselves and
their Canadian co-workers.
Most of all, they are stories of a program that, with all
its flaws, is essential to all Canadians, and especially
to small businesses. We hope it sheds new light
for readers on the issue by providing the first-hand
perspective of the entrepreneurs and the foreign
workers themselves.
Note that a few of the names of businesses, business owners and
workers featured in the stories have been changed as they may have
open immigration files that could be affected.
Foreign workers in small town Alberta
creating jobs, not taking them
Sometimes a perfect fit is not enough in
Vancouver
The five-year search for talent in
suburban Quebec
Natural resources plentiful, human
resources scarce, in Fernie, BC
Winnie the Pooh and TFWs too in northern
Ontario
Nova Scotia garment workers share in
benefits of TFW Program

3. Foreign workers in small town Alberta
creating jobs, not taking them
Eco-Flex® Recycled Rubber Solutions is a classic Canadian small business
success story with an environmental twist. Operating in the town of
Legal, Alberta since 1992, the company gives new life to about 3 million
old car and truck tires every year, turning them into everything from
rubber sidewalks to speed bumps to rubber flooring solutions for home,
agricultural and industrial applications.
According to founder and owner Alan Champagne, none of it would be possible,
however, without the tireless contributions of Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs).
“Right now I have just over thirty employees,” says Champagne. “And eight of them
are foreign workers we recruited from the Philippines. Legal is a small town about a
half hour from Edmonton, and with all the opportunities in Alberta right now, it’s near
impossible to retain good people here.”
Champagne adds that it isn’t the skilled jobs he has trouble with. But unskilled jobs are
another story altogether.
“We’ve had dozens of Canadians working as general labourers over the years. A lot of
them were good workers. But we invested to get them trained, got them up to speed,
With all the opportunities
in Alberta right now, it’s
near impossible to retain
good people here.

4. and then usually they learned a trade
and took higher-paying jobs in the oil
patch,” says Champagne. “We’ve tried
raising salaries for general labourers,
offering bonuses for years of service.
Nothing works.”
About six years ago was the first
time Eco-flex thought seriously about
hiring internationally through the
Government of Canada’s Temporary
Foreign Worker Program. The process
was long and costly. The company
paid recruiters to find the right
people overseas, then had to pay for
the workers’ flights and arrange for
accommodations. But once the foreign
workers got to Alberta and started
working, it didn’t take long to see that
it was the right decision.
“They work hard, they appreciate the
opportunity, and they stick around,”
says Champagne, adding that his
foreign workers have thrived in Legal,
picking up the language quickly,
joining clubs and becoming a vital part
of the community in a short time. And
Foreign worker profile: Rey
For Rey Gonjales, staying home was not a viable option. Married, with two young boys,
his life in the Philippines was a constant struggle, with little hope for improvement.
“Back home, I was a welder for six years, my wife worked for the city, but still we
couldn’t afford our daily needs. Food, clothing for our children, there was never enough
money, and it’s hard to watch your children go hungry,” says Rey.
But that must seem like a lifetime ago now. Rey has been working for the past five years
with Eco-Flex®
Recycled Rubber Solutions in Legal, Alberta, where he started as a general
labourer through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and has since ascended to the
role of production supervisor.
Rey has been home twice to see his family, but looks forward to bringing them here soon,
hoping for a positive response to his provincial immigrant nominee application.
He’s worked elsewhere, as a factory worker in Taiwan, and says that it doesn’t compare to
Canada in terms of workplace safety and the standard of living for foreign workers. “It’s a
better life here,” he says. “I love working here, I love living here.”

5. as far as their Canadian co-workers
are concerned, Champagne says that
they have actually benefitted from
the presence of the TFWs. You see,
since they arrived, productivity has
increased by 20%, leading to raises for
everyone, and allowing Eco-Flex to hire
more Canadian workers.
“If it’s used right, the Temporary
Foreign Worker Program isn’t taking
jobs from Canadians, it’s actually
adding jobs for Canadians,” says
Champagne.
The problem now is that the company
needs another seven or eight foreign
workers, and has been working since
January to go through all the necessary
paperwork. Champagne estimates
he is missing out on approximately
$150,000/week in revenues by not
having the staff he needs. With the
recent changes restricting the use of
the TFW Program, it’s anyone’s guess
when the needed workers will arrive.
Concludes Champagne: “I don’t know
how it is in other parts of the country,
but right now in Legal, Alberta, I might
have to shut down my business if not
for Temporary Foreign Workers. For
whatever reason, Canadians either
don’t want these jobs or don’t last at
these jobs. I rely on TFWs and I don’t
see that changing in the near future.”
...we invested to get
them (Canadian workers)
trained, got them up to
speed, and then usually
they learned a trade and
took higher-paying jobs...

6. Sometimes a perfect fit
is not enough in Vancouver
If a micro-business is one that employs fewer than ten people,
then Silvie Ferguson is the proud owner and operator of the
micro-est of micro-businesses. She trains film and television
actors in Vancouver. She needs someone to help her run the
office, keep her various computer systems running smoothly
and … teach a few acting classes.
This is the way it often is with the smallest businesses. Their requirements
don’t always fall into a neat job category. Ferguson needed a hybrid acting
coach/tech support/admin person. She had been getting by for years
hiring part-timers, farming out work to high-priced outside consultants,
and doing the rest herself. At one point, she had hired a Canadian jack-
of-all-trades who seemed to fit most of what she was looking for. That
is, until he left with no notice, defrauding the company of thousands of
dollars in the process.
So when an Australian named Roger applied for the
job, Sylvie was hopeful he would be the right fit. He
had all the necessary skills on paper. He was on a
working holiday visa from Australia, and had office
experience combined with an acting background.
After only a few months of having Roger on the job,
Silvie knew she had found exactly the right person,
and Roger knew that he didn’t want to leave Canada
when his visa expired.
“Roger is supposed to be exactly the kind of person
that Canada wants. He’s young, talented, speaks
English, and is highly educated,” says Ferguson.
“And he was exactly the person my company
needed. But none of that seemed to matter to the
government.”

7. Silvie applied for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO)
and helped Roger apply for a work visa, at first
expecting the process to be a slam-dunk, since he
was already in the job. (The employer is required
to get a positive response on an LMO before
the worker applies for a work permit.) Once she
found out that she had to list the job nationally
and consider Canadian applicants, she complied
with all the requirements, accepting resumes,
holding interviews, only to discover what she
already knew from previous searches, that the
person she was looking for was very hard to find.
The LMO was rejected three times. Ultimately,
before finally approving the application, the
government insisted that Silvie increase Roger’s
pay rate to match what they considered “the
going rate”.
“I think what Service Canada did was they took the salary of an
acting coach, and the salary of an office admin, and added them
together,” says Ferguson. “It was much more than I had been
paying previously. In fact, it was more than I was taking home
myself.”
After agreeing to increase Roger’s pay, Silvie kept him on staff
for another year, and he continued to be exactly the right
fit for the job. At the end of that year, however, Silvie faced
the prospect of having to go through the entire process once
again. She couldn’t do it. She wanted to keep Roger, but the
work permit process had already taken a toll on her business
and on her health. It was the end of this particularly perfect
partnership.
During his time in Vancouver, Roger had developed a network
of contacts, and was able to latch on with a much larger
company that, interestingly enough, had little trouble getting
an LMO and work permit approved. Meanwhile, Silvie continues
to plug away with part-timers and consultants, knowing there
is a better way, but frustrated by a bureaucracy that too often
makes small business do things the hard way.
Roger is supposed to be
exactly the kind of person
that Canada wants. He’s
young, talented, speaks
English, and is highly
educated.

8. The five-year search for talent in
suburban Quebec
An efficient economy is one that makes the right connections to
quickly fill needs. It matches buyers with sellers, and employers
with workers. In the high-tech sector, that matching of supply
and demand becomes more complicated, more intricate. The
needs are more specific, the people with the right combination of
skills and experience, harder to find.
Patrick Millard has spent many years trying to find just the right mix of people
for his product development team at Millobit Group, a small business that is a
leader in providing specialty software for the trucking industry, employing 15
people in Laval, Quebec.
“When your business is developing innovative products, there is great
value in getting a variety of different perspectives,” he says. “The Canadian
programmers we have are excellent, but there is a particular way of doing
things here. Sometimes, you need a new way of looking at a problem.”

9. But, of course, being a small business,
it’s never that simple. Millobit
advertised locally for an experienced
developer with a particular set of
qualifications, but they also required
someone who could meet with clients
in English or French, and who would
be able to write the manuals and other
user documentation that goes along
with the product.
“In a big business, one person meets
the client, another person writes the
code, and a third person writes the
manual,” says Millard. “Here, it’s one
guy, it took us five years to find him,
and he happens to be a citizen of
France.”
After advertising the vacant position
for years and getting very few
applicants, never mind qualified
applicants, Millard and his partner
decided to take a chance on the
Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW)
Program. “It’s a little scary to be
honest, because you are hiring largely
based on a resume, but Luc has been
here for a year, and he’s just the
person we needed. He’s brought new
life to the whole team, and allowed us
to do things we couldn’t do before.”
But the TFW Program has not been
all sunshine and roses for Millobit
Group. Aside from the risk involved in
hiring overseas, there was considerable
added cost, including a government
ruling that requires Millobit to pay Luc
more than they would pay a Canadian
worker with the same experience. “The
wage standards are based on what
big companies pay. We’ve never been
able to compete in that sense. We
can’t afford it. People who work here
could probably make more by going
to work for the government or bigger
businesses, but many of them like
working here because of the challenge,
the work environment, and the people
they get to work with.”
Delays are also a problem. The speed of
the IT business in this day and age does
not offer the luxury of waiting four, six,
or ten months to get the right person
in place. Millard says that an efficient
TFW system is essential for a company
like his, because he needs to be able
to respond quickly to the market. “If
someone’s selling orange juice, and
it takes them five months to get their
hands on some oranges, that’s not
good. That kills the business. For me, I
need the right people at the right time.
If they’re Canadian, great! If not, the
business needs to have the flexibility to
fill the need some other way.”
In spite of the challenges, Luc is
thriving at Millobit, where he is
accepted as just another member of
the team, and has allowed the company
to undertake projects that were not
previously within their reach. Those
projects represent job security for
the Canadian developers working at
Millobit, and perhaps even new jobs
for other Canadians as the company
grows.
For me, I need the right people
at the right time. If they’re
Canadian, great! If not, the
business needs to have the
flexibility to fill the need some
other way.

10. Natural resources plentiful, human
resources scarce, in Fernie, BC
Fernie, BC, is a small ski resort town lying in the beautiful Rocky
Mountains between Cranbrook and Lethbridge, about 50 km from
the border with Alberta. A wonderful place to live and work for a
population of 5,500, Fernie offers ample employment in the mining
sector, as well as the tourism trade.
The workplace of choice in Fernie is a large coal mining operation in nearby
Sparwood that employs some 4,000 people, typically paying $25/hour or more
for entry level positions. Those who are not employed in the mining industry
have plentiful opportunity in the hospitality sector, with a number of hotels and
restaurants always on the lookout for talent.
Ken Daimler, owner of two quick service restaurants, one of them in Fernie,
finds himself between a rock and a hard place when looking to recruit and retain
reliable staff for his small business in Fernie.
“I know what it’s like from both sides,” says Daimler. “Because my restaurant
in Cranbrook, which has a larger population and is farther removed from the
resource sector, hasn’t really had these problems.”
Like many other business owners who have turned to foreign workers to fill
vacancies, Daimler says it is a combination of factors that make it hard to
find the right help. “Proximity to where people live is certainly a factor. The
combination of the mines and the tourism trade also plays a big role. The fact
is that the mine is always hiring, and the hotels and other restaurants offer
many workers the opportunity to supplement their income with tips. It’s hard to
compete.”
Daimler has been running his restaurant in Cranbrook, BC for the last 24 years,
and has never used foreign workers there. When he opened a second operation
in Fernie 10 years ago, staffing wasn’t a problem, initially, but as the coal mine
grew and grew, that changed. That restaurant needs a staff of 40 to run at full
capacity. Right now it has 25, and the turnover, as it often is in the industry, is
never-ending.

11. “We are constantly in hiring mode, and we’ve gone to extraordinary
lengths, especially in Fernie, to make sure we’re maxing out the
local talent. We advertise all the time, on Job Bank, Kijiji, WorkBC,
you name it. We hold job fairs, we’re in the high school sponsoring
activities, we offer staff bonuses for referring a friend, and we’ve
increased our starting wages. We leave no stone unturned, but it’s
still not enough,” says Daimler.
Six years ago, Daimler decided to try to hire a few foreign workers.
After going through the considerable paperwork, the restaurant
hired four workers from Mexico, and the experience has been
overwhelmingly positive. Three of them have since gotten permanent
resident status through the Provincial Nominee Program and are still
working for Ken, one as a manager.
“I haven’t had a single problem with my Temporary Foreign Workers.
They work hard, they get along with the other employees, and they
tend to stay longer than many of my other staff.”
Daimler has since hired another three workers from the Philippines
through the TFW Program, and is in the process of hiring seven more
from Belize. It will likely take him seven months or more to get those
workers in place.
“It’s frustrating,” he says. “Because we
see stories on the news about some
big companies apparently using TFWs
to replace Canadian workers, and we
know that it doesn’t represent what
is really happening on the ground
for small business. There are no
Canadians clamouring for these jobs.
If anything, Canadians around here
are clamouring for my restaurant to
be open longer, which I can’t do right
now, because I just don’t have the
staff.”
...we’ve gone to extraordinary lengths,
especially in Fernie, to make sure we’re
maxing out the local talent... We leave no
stone unturned, but it’s still not enough.

12. Winnie the Pooh and TFWs too in
northern Ontario
If you’re ever in White River, Ontario, you may want to visit Winnie-the-
Pooh Park, where the origins of the legendary children’s book character are
celebrated every August with a week-long festival. You see, the character
was named after a real black bear, bought in White River during WWI
by a soldier on his way to England. That bear, named after the soldier’s
hometown of Winnipeg (“Winnie” for short) later became a favourite of
visitors to the London Zoo, including the young son of author A.A. Milne.
Across the street from the park, less famous but equally vital to the town, is the
White River Motel, offering year-round accommodation in the form of 29 clean and
comfortable rooms and seven housekeeping cabins for visitors coming for the fishing,
the snowmobiling, the hiking, or maybe to delve into the history of a certain famous
bear. Jeanne Morgan, who owns and runs the motel, does so in spite of being severely
understaffed for most of the last seven years.

13. “Across the street is Winnie the Pooh. You can just call me, Jeanne, the
pooped,” she only half-jokes. “I’m running a 29-unit motel right now
with about one third the staff I really need to do the job effectively.”
Morgan says the problem is part geographic, and part economic. “White
River’s primary employer for a long time was the lumber mill, and that
closed in 2007. After that, the population went from about 1,200 down
to about 500, and lots of those people are seniors. That’s really all we
have to draw on in terms of local staff, because the next closest town is
an hour away.”
That’s when the White River Motel first began to access the Temporary
Foreign Worker (TFW) Program. “In 2007 we employed TFWs from
Mexico. In 2008 we were turned down for TFWs because they said there
were too many people in White River on EI. But none of those people
applied, and we were forced to work short staffed with the local people
that were available from 2008 to 2010. We survived because business
was slow with the recession. But when things picked up again in 2011,
we really needed more help. It’s been near impossible to get it locally.”
In 2011 and again in 2012, it took Morgan less than five weeks to get
work permits approved. This year it took more than 12 weeks. It’s been
very difficult, because she had to try to do the spring cleaning while the
motel was very busy, with a skeleton staff.
They worked hard, they were happy to have the
jobs, and they always had a smile on their faces.
Right now, the local staff I do have are all tired and
overworked, and would give anything for the extra
help, but we just don’t know when it’s coming.

14. “It’s not fair to me, but mostly, it’s not fair to the staff that I do have,
because I can’t give them a day off sometimes when they really need
one. My office manager has been cleaning rooms and making beds
and I have been doing the laundry many days. That means the office
work doesn’t get done. I’ve had a kidney infection for the last little
while, and I can’t take a day off. It’s completely ridiculous,” says
Morgan.
Morgan raves about the Temporary Foreign Workers that have
worked with her over the years. “I’ve had foreign workers from
Mexico and Jamaica. They work hard, they’re happy to have the jobs,
and they always have a smile on their faces. Right now, the local
staff I do have are all tired and overworked, and would give anything
for the needed help. The situation is very precarious.”
Asked if she thinks that Temporary Foreign Workers are taking
Canadian jobs, she laughs. “Not in White River, they’re not. You bring
me a Canadian that wants to work here, they’ll be hired on the spot.
You think I want to pay extra for the flights, the 400 kilometre trip
to and from Thunder Bay, health insurance, and housing? If there
were Canadians applying, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Morgan has three new LMOs currently under consideration and
one extension. With recent changes that promise to make the TFW
process even more difficult and costly to small business, Morgan
isn’t sure how she’ll be able to continue running her business. “They
keep making it harder and harder for me to keep my Canadian
workers employed, and they’re supposed to be protecting Canadian
jobs, not trying to put small businesses out of business.”
To quote Pooh Bear himself, “oh, bother”.
You bring me a Canadian that wants to work here,
they’ll be hired on the spot. You think I want to
pay extra for the flight, the 400 kilometre trip from
Thunder Bay, health insurance, housing? If there
were Canadians applying, we wouldn’t be having
this conversation.

15. Some people look at this job
as a temporary fix, and lately,
a lot of Nova Scotians have
been leaving for Alberta or
Saskatchewan, to higher-
paying jobs in the resource
sector.
Nova Scotia garment workers
share in benefits of TFW Program
WearWell Garments Limited of Stellarton, Nova Scotia manufactures
and sells work apparel and other specialty garments to companies
across Canada. They employ about 100 people in Stellarton, a town of
4,700 in the northern part of the province.
There was a time, says company owner and President Stirling MacLean, when you
could find workers with experience making garments. Not any more, he says.
“Essentially, when we’re hiring a new worker, we need to assume that we’re
training them from scratch,” says MacLean. “And that process takes six months
to a year, until that worker is really up-to-speed and working at the level they
need to, for the company to be successful, and for them to be successful.”
Machine operators at WearWell Garments start out earning an hourly wage, but
then transition to getting paid by the piece, which MacLean says is significantly
to the worker’s advantage. “Let’s put it this way,” he says. “Once they’re properly
trained, they don’t want to go back to getting paid hourly. They can make a
much better living getting paid by the piece.”

16. The problem that WearWell Garments
has encountered in recent years is
trouble retaining staff once they’ve
been trained. “Some people look at this
job as a temporary fix, and lately, a lot
of Nova Scotians have been leaving for
Alberta or Saskatchewan, to higher-
paying jobs in the resource sector.”
But because of the amount of
training required, MacLean says that
his company simply can’t afford to
continually be training new people,
only to lose them after a year.
In 2011, the company hired three
Temporary Foreign Workers from the
Philippines, as machine operators.
They have since hired eight more, and
all 11 are still with the company, and
applying for permanent residence
under the Provincial Nominee Program.
MacLean calls them “a Godsend”.
“We care about our employees and
we didn’t undertake this lightly,” says
MacLean. “In fact, before we did it, we
had a meeting and discussed it with all
of our Canadian staff, and truly they’ve
been very supportive from the start.
They’ve helped the new workers to
settle in, and have had a great attitude
about it.”
Not only that, but WearWell Garments
has done its part as well, establishing
three residences, close to the plant,
where the Temporary Foreign Workers
reside. The firm is also offering
assistance with the immigration
process.
For their part, the foreign workers
have been model employees, and
have become active members of the
community, many volunteering at the
local church.
This is a true success story for the TFW
Program in that everyone working for
WearWell Garments is making more
today than they were in 2010. “In 2010,
we had an absentee rate of 10.8%.
That’s gone down to 4.9%. Our TFWs
have a tremendous work ethic, and
that’s infectious. But it’s not just them.
Everyone is pulling together, and we’re
doing great!”
So is Stirling MacLean looking to hire
more TFWs?
“Probably not,” he says. “We have an
LMO approved for one more foreign
worker, but after that, I think we
have a pretty good balance right
now, and it’s certainly not a simple
process to bring people over. We still
hire local people if they apply, and
that’s always our preference. But if I
needed to hire more foreign workers,
I certainly would, and I don’t know
what we would have done without the
program.”

17. Our TFWs have a tremendous work ethic, and
that’s infectious. But it’s not just them. Everyone
is pulling together, and we’re doing great!
Foreign worker profile: Julieta
When Julieta came to Canada two years ago as a Temporary Foreign Worker, she
did it thinking of a better life for her daughter, Ella. Julieta, a single mother, did
not have much hope to offer young Ella in their native Philippines.
“It is very difficult to find work back home, and even if you do work, it’s hard to
live on what you earn,” she says.
When the opportunity presented itself to work for WearWell Garments in Nova
Scotia, she jumped at the chance. “Everyone here has been very nice to me and
this is a great place to work. If you work hard, you can succeed.”
Julieta, who had previous experience working in the garment industry in Japan,
says that she prefers Canada, hands down. “Every time I go to church, I thank
God for bringing me here.”
She plans to apply for permanent residence and would love to stay, and
eventually bring her daughter. In the meantime, however, the money Julieta earns
here is allowing Ella to go to a good school back home. “Already, this opportunity
has made a big difference in my daughter’s life, and I am very thankful.”

18. The stories in this book come from CFIB member businesses.
Many thanks to the hard-working small business owners and their
employees who took time out of already busy schedules to share
their stories with us. Your contributions make a difference.
Dan Kelly
President and CEO
CFIB
CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 109,000
members across every sector and region.