Skilled U.S. Workers Could Fill Labour Needs Gap
Wednesday, September 18, 2013 @ 1:34 PM
Prince George, B.C. – When it comes to cross border trade issues, one of the highlights of this morning’s session at Northern Development Initiative Trust, is skilled labour.Consul General Anne Callaghan “We have a very successful program in Alberta, which my U.S. Consulate counterpart in Calgary initiated with all the stakeholders in the Province of Alberta. They brought over, over a thousand temporary skilled workers from the United States. Now we’re working with the provincial government to see whether we can initiate a similar program here.”
She says in many cases, because of the slower U.S. economy, there are skilled workers needing employment. Through temporary foreign workers program, she says both economies can prosper by having skilled U.S. workers fill the temporary skilled labour gaps.
But there are some challenges on the business travel front adds Callaghan “Some find they have had difficulty in bringing workers up, or bringing workers down to the U.S. and wanted to know if there was some way that could be facilitated, which in fact we are, through the Beyond Borders Initiative addressing exactly those concerns.”
The Beyond Borders plan is aimed at deepening the relationship between Canada and the U.S.. It hopes to enhance security of both countries, as well as increase prosperity for both.
When the U.S. housing starts tumbled, the forest products industry looked to diversify their customer base, and the opportunities presented by Asia provided that diversity. U.S. housing starts are back at healthier levels, but Callaghan says the U.S. is aware lumber manufacturers have other trade commitments “I think we see that ( trade with Asia) as complimentary, I think it underscores the fact that we really do need to continue to pay attention to the North-South relationship.”.
“There is good news” says Callaghan “they ( the participants in today’s sessions) want to continue to do business in the U.S., that’s all good.” She adds, “The messages they are sending to senior governments on both sides of the border is ‘make it easier for us’.”
Callaghan is very positive about Prince George, she says during her previous visit, which was in the fall of 2011, she spent nearly three days touring the area, “Honestly I can’t think of a more ideal city to raise a family in.”
Comments
Make it easier for Canadian kids to get training. ! Make it easier for unemployed Canadians to get a trade ! Make it easier for employers to bring on trianees and on-the-job training ! Too much red tape, bureaucracy and rules ! If all the BS existed in the 1860s the railway would never have been built ! I agree…… MAKE IT EASIER !!!!!
Americans! Chinese workers will work for far less! Just look to Tumbler Ridge.
MAKE IT EASIER …. Boon, I suggest you look at the Help Wanted ads and the online recruiting sites for the industrial sectors that claim labour shortages …. the employers do NOT want apprentices or to provide on-the-job training … what the employers want is cheap, experienced, certified Trades … and that is what this presentation was selling: from the story – “… she says both economies can prosper by having skilled U.S. workers fill the temporary skilled labour gaps.” … not as cheap as the Chinese but definitely cheaper than bringing unemployed Canadian young workers up to speed …
If all the BS existed in the 1860s the railway would never have been built
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I don’t think the average worker today would put up with the working conditions of the late 18th century railroad working conditions … click on the link for a different perspective
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/settlement/kids/021013-2031.3-e.html
If all the BS existed in the 1860s the railway would never have been built
———————————————
I don’t think the average worker today would put up with the working conditions of the late 18th century railroad working conditions … click on the link for a different perspective
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/settlement/kids/021013-2031.3-e.html
this stodgy broad needs to get in her Escalade and take a road trip to Texas, Penn, N. Dakoda & Wyo. Makes Ft. Mac look tame.
Makes perfect sense! Might as well kick some Canadians out of their homes so the US workers have somewhere to stay to!
Canadian kids trained and canadian employers subsidized to accept them in training positions first Janine. Then US workers. Btw Canadians can in no way get jobs in the US at this time
There is no doubt that temporary foreign workers could be needed as business moves faster than Government and the training time required.
However the present system of paying the foreign workers cheaper has and is become a Government subsidy for alternative cheap labour.
If there truly is a shortage the foreign labour should be allowed and the company requiring the hep should have to pay a premium perhaps to the Government. That way the foreign worker would only be brought in when absolutely needed. Have a Premium paid over and above the workers wages to the Government to be used to address the skills shortage.
Problem can only be blamed on current employers not training enough people! They knew this was coming and did very little. But you can’t blame them because as soon a little Johnny has his IP ticket he can work where ever he wants. So company’s hate paying the cost of training when they might quit as soon as they get their ticket.
Perfect back up plan is hire foreign workers.
Harper government has raised the cost of hiring foreign workers. It now costs $250 for employers to hire temporary foreign workers. Despite that, last year there were 340,000 temporary foreign workers, despite 1,400,000 unemployed Canadians.
Although the Canadian public is asked to subsidize the oilsands through low royalties, and the mining industry through raised hydro rates, there is no money left over for job training.Good thing there are elections coming in 2015.
I agree that we need to pay attention to the North/South relationship. They are our closest neigbbors and are important to us. However, I agree with anotherside’s comments. Employers do not want apprentices and don’t want to train either young or older workers. I know of many people – espectially between ages 40 – 55, that would be very happy to get on-the-job training for trades, and equipment operaters etc. but employers do NOT want to train. Those that are unemployed cannot afford to pay some of the large costs of industrial course. So these Canadians are out in the cold and cheap foreign workers are in. There are lots of job ads, but only experienced need apply.
pansy right on the money there.
Job Fair = are you already qualified for the job?
No? we don’t want you
Yes? your hired.
If the person was already qualified, why would he goto a job fair? If he wanted the job he’d already of asked a company and gotten hired. Hence job fair’s are a joke.
Even asked a few of them if I could start at a lower wage while I learned/trained for the job. They are only interested in people who can already do the job.
Many employers are already operating too close to the line to be able to afford to train when there’s no certainty that their training is going to be of any benefit to them.
Couple that with the current attitude of agencies like Worksafe that every accident is the EMPLOYER’S fault, even if it isn’t, plus all the other modern niceties that can get any employer in some very expensive trouble for situations no employer could ever reasonably be expected to foresee, but he’s supposed to be able to, regardless, and it’s a wonder that as many people still get hired that do.
If you want on the job training for many of the jobs that currently are lacking skilled workers, the profit margins for smaller and mid-sized businesses simply have to be greater. It just isn’t practical, nor is it ever going to happen, that all these size businesses ‘grow’ into large businesses.
The most sensible way to improve shrinking profit margins is to recognise what is happening in the economy as a whole, or ‘macro-economy’. At that level it should be clear that so long as there is ongoing ‘labor displacement’ in any economy, (due to greater mechanisation, automation, outsourcing, etc.), the overall flow of business ‘costs’ into ‘prices’ will increasingly be allocated costs, and not ones distributed to worker/consumers as ‘incomes’.
Since it’s the ‘spending from incomes’ that has to liquidate the ‘costs’ through ‘prices’ and provide the business with a profit, if overall incomes are declining relative to overall costs, spending from those incomes will be declining, too. And so will business profits.
When we finally come to the realisation that earned ‘incomes’ alone CANNOT, in any modern, industrial economy, ever FULLY liquidate costs that they are only now a PART of, and that the only way those costs can be fully liquidated and a reasonable level of business profit maintained is to continually augment the flow of earned incomes by the amount they’re deficient in ratio to the flow of costs coming forward into prices, we may finally be able to come to grips with the main cause of the current problem. Until then, all the “Job Action Plans” in the world are not going to ever be able to do the trick.
Well what do you do when you have 10 provinces and people in only 2 of them (AB & SK – can’t possibly give BC the nod on that one)want a job and the rest want to ride the welfare train???
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