Growing up in Canada, we’ve been fed this idea that if you’re stuck in a low-skill job, you’ve somehow failed. It’s like our parents implanted this chip in our brains: “Do well in school or you’ll end up flipping burgers forever!” So, naturally, we bust our butts through school, aiming for those fancy degrees. But guess what? Reality smacks us in the face when we graduate. Suddenly, we’re stuck in this cycle of short-lived, low-skilled, jobs, struggling to hold onto anything for more than a year. Why? Because we’ve been conditioned to believe that low-skill jobs are beneath us. It’s like we’re allergic to hard work if it doesn’t come with a shiny diploma. But the truth is, those “entry-level” gigs are not only crucial for building skills and experience, they are crucial for our economy and the survival of countless small and medium sized businesses in Canada.
Now, flip the perspective to an employer of a fast food restaurant, or retail store, or retirement home, or hotel: What do you do when your employees don’t last more than 3 months, one month of which was paid training! Your HR department works harder than anything else in the business, and no matter how pleasant applicants are during the interview, it only takes a couple customers to turn them off, and the hotel across the street offering $5 more/hour to turn them out.
Now for the secret sauce: Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) who are looking for a new break in life by moving to Canada for work. TFWs did not grow up in Canada, taking in messaging that low-skilled jobs are a sign of failure. Rather TFWs grew up being conditioned to think moving to a Western country like Canada was success. TWFs have much more capacity to work hard and persevere in low skilled, repetitive work, something Canadian born workers run away from!
Canadian businesses need to apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment to be granted permission to hire a TFW. There are a lot of regulations for the business to abide by, but in return, your worker’s immigration status in Canada is tied to their job. They quit, they go home. The stakes are a lot more higher for a TFW to quit, so they are more likely to stick around longer.
THAT BEING SAID, as an employer of a TFW, the TFW is under your patronage in Canada. You are responsible for their well bring (sometimes, you must look after their housing and transportation), and there are inspections and sever fines for those employers that abuse their power over the TFW.
However, if you’re a kind employer that will treat the TFW justly, hiring TFWs may be your solution to retaining employees.
At Arsheen Devjee Immigration Solutions we help businesses apply for the arduous Labour Market Impact Assessment so they can bring workers to Canada to help their businesses get over this very real struggle of low-skilled employee retention.
If the above story resonates with you, message us on What’s App (1-647-607-2106), or send us an email at infor@arsheenimmigration.com to start the conversation on bringing in a TFW.
