Welcome to Canada: Labour shortages are forcing employers to scour the globe for workers. Here's how they do it
Financial Post Business Magazine, October 2006

A few years ago, Ed Madronich had a problem known to almost every small-business owner: He couldn't find good help. In Madronich's case, the missing ingredient was an experienced winemaker to work at his vineyard, Flat Rock Cellars, located in Jordan, Ont., on the Niagara Peninsula. The region's wine business was booming. Winemakers were in high demand. So much so that even when he found an experienced candidate, that person turned down Madronich's offer of a job.

That's when Madronich took a step he hadn't considered before: looking outside Canada for skilled help. He posted an ad on an international wine website and, a few months later, hired an Australian. Fast-forward to today, and foreign workers - from Australia, New Zealand and Albania - make up the majority of Madronich's wine-making crew. "Canadian winemakers are few and far between, but there's a plethora abroad," says Madronich. "I look for people who will be great, locally or internationally."

Due to labour shortages across Canada - but especially in Alberta and B.C. - a growing number of small businesses are following Madronich's lead. In 2005, approximately 79,000 new foreign workers of all skill levels entered Canada - an 18% increase from 2003. "In the past, businesses were only prepared to go through the considerable costs and bureaucracy for senior level positions," says Dan Kelly, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business's vice-president for Western Canada. "Today, businesses are beginning to look at immigration programs for bringing in workers at more junior skill levels."

While there are several ways to hire people from abroad, the main method is through the federal government's Foreign Worker Program. It starts with an employer applying to Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) for permission to hire abroad. The employer must show that they've tried to hire a Canadian, while HRSDC determines whether there is, in fact, a labour shortage in the business's sector. Once HRSDC approves the application, the employer can start looking for workers. The person who receives the offer then has to get a work permit from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which screens them for health and security risks and verifies their employment credentials.

The whole process can take four months or longer, and the costs can add up for business owners. The work permit fee only costs $150, but employers may also pay the worker's flight, hotel and medical examination. If they use a recruitment agency, employers can expect to pay the agency 20% of the employee's first year's salary, plus additional fees for dealing with the bureaucracy.

Another option involves having a foreign worker apply to enter Canada through the normal immigration process. While this can take several years, newly created "provincial nominee programs" allow employers to request faster processing of applications from skilled workers. There's also the NAFTA visa, which is available to professionals from the U.S. and Mexico.

The final step for employers is to have someone on hand to help new workers get health cards, find housing and register their children for school. "It's worth thinking about how people will fit into the workplace and the community," says Herman Van Reekum, a former immigration officer who now runs VRV Immigration Services Ltd. in Calgary. "The more preparation the employer can do, the more successful the experience will be."