OTTAWA – The federal government isn’t doing a good enough job of keeping tabs on the program that brings thousands of temporary foreign workers into Canada each year, says Auditor General Sheila Fraser.
In her latest report, Fraser says surveillance of the program is so lax that work permits could be issued for jobs that don’t exist and workers could be vulnerable to abuse by employers.
Fraser said the departments of immigration and human resources have not clearly defined their respective roles.
“As a result, work permits could be issued to temporary foreign workers for employers or jobs that do not exist. In addition, there is no systematic follow-up by either department to verify that in their previous and current employment of temporary foreign workers, employers have complied with the terms and conditions (such as weages and accommodations) under which the work permits were issued.”
That means that some foreign workers could be left vulnerable – particularly those who are physically or linguistically isolated, she said.
Speaking to reporters, Fraser said her staff heard a number of anecdotes indicating that some people were using the temporary foreign worker program to fast track family members into the country.
Fraser also found that there are still serious backlogs of applications to immigrate to Canada, despite steps taken by the federal government to bring the backlog in check.
In 2008, before it changed the rules, the immigration department estimated that the backlog that existed at February 2008 might not be elimated for another eight to 25 years, Fraser said.
Now it doesn’t even hazard a guess.
“The department was…unable to determine when this inventory will likely be eliminated nor has it defined what would be a reasonable timeframe to do so.”
Elizabeth.thompson@sunmedia.ca
