Many business owners across Canada are reeling after learning on Thursday, April 23, Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney announced a suspension on the food service industry's Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
This includes local business, 2nd Street Eats in Wawota owned by Gerald and Kristine Duff. Their restaurant opened a mere two years ago and for the last year and a half they have been looking into bringing a cook in from Albania.
The job, a full-time cook, has been posted on Kijiji and SaskJobs, but the Canadians who apply have provided nothing but trouble to the Duff's.
Gerald explained: "They'll say 'I'm willing to come but I have no way of getting there.' 'How far away are you?' Well, when I'm applying for a job somewhere I know where it is... [and] no I'm not paying you to come here when I don't even know you."
"We had one guy from Edmonton, three times in the same week, he said he was coming so I would drive all the way to Whitewood, close down the kitchen for the afternoon, drive all the way to Whitewood to the bus station and he wouldn't be on it."
Another Canadian employee lasted three quarters of a week before making an excuse that his daughter had overdosed in Winnipeg and that he had to leave, only the individual was hiding out at the bar in Wawota according to the Duff's who were unimpressed with how the situation was handled.
It has been difficult in finding people to fill the position, which Gerald believes is based on where they're located.
"We're in a small location where you have to have something for them to want to stay here other than working unless they have family here they're not going to want to stay," Gerald said. "Somebody in their mid-20s to 30s... unless their roots are sewn here, there's nothing in this area for them because you're two-hours away from a major city so it's been hard. Waitresses we're kind of yeah or no because you can get spouses of people working in the oilfield looking for the odd shift here and there so they're not bored, but cooks it's hard."
In addition to this Gerald says it's difficult to compete with hiring people to work because the oilfield can offer better wages.
"People are looking at me saying, 'Why would I work for $13, $14 an hour when I could be working for $20-something an hour?' Because the oilfield companies are screaming too," he said.
With these issues 2nd Street Eats decided to hire a temporary foreign worker because 95 percent of the applications received from their advertising were foreign workers.
"They want to come and they want to work," Gerald stated. "There's no sense hiring somebody in any field, if you don't have the passion for it. If they're just doing it for extra money to move along they're not going to, where as these foreign workers coming want a better life and they want to work."
The Duff's applied and received their Labour Market Opinions (LMO) needed for hiring a foreign worker and found a woman living in Albania to be the right fit for them.
"I've been talking back and forth for a year and a half with this lady, she comes from around 40,000 people, and I told her she'd be coming to seven months of cold and snow, and a population of 700," Gerald said. "And she said 'I don't care, I just want to cook for you. We're willing to start a new life.'"
"And all she keeps saying is I hope you like me, not whether or not she'll like the area [which Canadians seem to be quite concerned about]. She's already Googled, Wawota and Carlyle... I didn't even tell her about Carlyle. She's already done that and says she's happy with it."
The Duff's process has been drawn out already with their LMO becoming lost in the piles of files in Toronto, extending a three month process into an eight month wait.
Things were looking up as her interview for a work visa was held a month ago. Everyone was simply waiting for the decision.
Now, however, all the work and waiting the Duff's have done is for not as their application was put on hold pending the investigation of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.
"I understand yes, it doesn't matter what it is, somebody will take advantage of a system, but why do the 80% of us have to suffer for the 20% that are abusing it? Why do we suffer when we really do need somebody?" Gerald questioned.
"I'm hoping they do their investigation and are done right away, but seeing the process it's taken to try and get her here I'm not certain how long it will really be to lift this."
It has been a long two years for the Duff's, working long hours without any time off unless they closed the restaurant for a couple days. However, closing the restaurant means they have no income on those days.
Ultimately, though, they feel badly for the woman in Albania awaiting the verdict.
"I kind of feel sad for her because she's kept out of the loop," Gerald stated. "She doesn't understand our government and how it works, like the LMO it takes three months, well ours took eight months."
"I emailed and explained to her what's going on in Canada, but not to give up, and that we're not giving up either. Just in case this is only, who knows maybe it'll only take a month and they'll fix it."
The Duff's, however, are not overly optimistic considering the process it has taken to get through the applications and interviews.
