| | The ongoing labour shortage in Alberta has some agricultural employers looking overseas for new workers.
“The agricultural sector has been particularly hard hit by the labour shortage,” says Chris Slade, labour manager, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Leduc. “Due to low profit margins, agriculture loses a lot of entry-level workers to jobs in higher-paying sectors. These workers are hard to replace as agriculture is at the bottom of the pyramid as far as ranking sectors by average wage is concerned.”
Alberta Agriculture has four people who work on labour issues. “We advise employers on how to retain their current employees as well as help them develop strategies to attract new ones,” says Slade. “And since the supply situation is so tight in Alberta right now, many of these employers are looking abroad to hire foreign workers.”
He says there are several issues potential employers need to keep in mind when considering whether to hire foreign workers. “There are a lot of different governments departments and ministries that are involved in the process when someone wants to hire out-of-country labour. It’s important for the potential employer to know how these different groups work together and how they can help solve the employer’s labour problem.”
He says employers should contact a government representative before starting the process of hiring foreign labour. “Sometimes employers can be taken advantage of by unscrupulous recruiters, or they could be paying fees that are not normally necessary,” says Slade. “There are a lot of things we as government representatives can do to help as far as costs and finding more suitable recruitment channels.”
He says that takes time to hire foreign workers. It takes about eight months from the start of the process before the worker actually arrives. As such, a lot of planning is needed beforehand.
“We can understand he frustrations over the time involved,” says Slade. “But there are other issues that take precedence over the labour shortage such as the health and security of Canadians, and making sure that the people coming into the country are who they say they are. This means every potential worker has to be investigated, and this takes time.”
For more information on hiring foreign workers, call Chris Slade at (780) 980-4222
Contact: Chris Slade (780) 980-4222 |
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