Fall 2003

Foreign Workers

The number of recorded foreign workers was directly affected by the implementation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in the second half of 2002. Specific impacts are described in more detail below and in past issues of The Monitor. CIC put these measures into place to facilitate the movement of foreign workers to Canada. In some cases, foreign workers who previously required a work permit no longer require one. The variation in recorded flows does not necessarily mean that fewer foreign workers are coming to Canada.

Countries of Origin

During the second quarter of 2003, some 26,384 foreign workers came to Canada. This brought the mid-year total to 44,087 foreign workers, representing a recorded quarterly decline of 13 percent compared to the same period of 2002.

During the second quarter, the largest number of foreign workers came from Mexico (see section below on seasonal agricultural workers). Looking back at the quarterly figures for the last five years, this is the first time that more foreign workers from Mexico were recorded than from the U.S. Mexico’s increase over the same quarter in 2002 was three percent, rising to a total of 5,427 workers entering between April 1 and June 30.

The U.S. ranked second, sending 4,185 workers, a drop of 40 percent over 2002’s second quarter. The change in recorded U.S. flows is partly related to changes under IRPA, which has exempted a number of categories of foreign workers—well represented in the U.S. numbers—from requiring a work permit for stays of a short duration. These categories include some performing artists, seminar and commercial speakers visiting for less than five days, and service repair people. The legislative changes now facilitate the entry of short-term workers by no longer requiring work permits.

To illustrate the impact of the new legislation on recorded worker flows from the U.S., we can observe the pre-IRPA flows for certain categories of foreign workers. For example, in the second quarter of 2002, before IRPA, 429 U.S. foreign workers entered Canada as performing artists—workers who no longer require work permits. Similarly, 251 U.S. foreign workers were listed as service repair people, another group of workers who no longer require work permits. Together, these two groups accounted for almost 10 percent of U.S. foreign workers in the second quarter of 2002. Other groups of foreign workers, such as guest speakers, were not recorded as specific groups before the new act, so it is impossible to know how many guest speakers may now not require a work permit.

It is also impossible to know exactly how many foreign workers in each of these fields came to Canada in the second quarter of 2003. There is no doubt, however, that the legislative changes have resulted in fewer foreign workers from the U.S. being recorded in the foreign worker flows captured by CIC. Similarly, about nine percent of U.K. workers were performing artists or service repair people in the same quarter of 2002, accounting for a substantial part of the variation in recorded U.K. flows as well.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers

The second quarter is an important period for the entry of seasonal agricultural workers. Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) allows for the entry of workers from Mexico and the Caribbean. The program provides a supplementary source of reliable and qualified seasonal labour to help ensure that Canada’s crops are planted and harvested in a timely fashion. In 2002, about 43 percent of workers in this program entered during the second quarter, coincident with the Canadian planting season.

The two largest countries in the program are Mexico and Jamaica. In the second quarter of 2003, 98 percent of foreign workers from Mexico and 97 percent of those from Jamaica were seasonal agricultural workers. Seasonal workers accounted for one-third of all foreign workers entering Canada in that quarter.

Skill Levels

The impact of the SAWP during the second quarter was also evident when viewing worker flows by skill level. About 97 percent of those entering under the SAWP were classified at skill level C (intermediate and clerical). The number of workers entering at this skill level reached 10,612 in the second quarter of 2003. This represented a three percent rise over the same quarter of 2002 and was more than twice as many as in the first quarter of 2003—a seasonal pattern between winter and spring that was evident in previous years as well.

The number of workers recorded at higher skill levels continued to undergo substantial variations, reflecting the changes under IRPA meant to facilitate worker movements across the border for certain categories of short-term workers described above. Workers recorded at skill level A (professionals) declined by 38 percent, to 5,219 workers, compared to the same quarter of 2002, while those at level B (skilled workers) declined by 22 percent, to 3,712.

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