Harper's CONS give Green Light to More FTW's

[tay]

The federal government has granted an exemption to Microsoft Canada that will allow the company to bring in an unspecified number of temporary foreign workers to British Columbia as trainees without first looking for Canadians to fill the jobs.


A notice posted on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website says foreign workers will receive specialized training in a new human resources development centre in the province. The tech giant will not have to perform a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) — a rigorous process that would include a search for Canadians who could fill the positions.


The exemption was granted under a provincial-federal agreement that gives a pass to companies that gain provincial approval.
The Canadian government argues the arrangement is the result of a significant investment by Microsoft that will create jobs for Canadians as well at a new 400-person training centre.


Nevertheless, some legal observers say the decision appears at odds with the government's promise to crack down on abuse in the system in order to protect Canadian jobs.


"There is certainly no justification that I can see that would support granting an exemption to a large number of foreign workers to come into Canada to take away jobs that could easily filled by Canadians," said Toronto immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman.


"On the one hand, the government is telling us they are protecting Canadian jobs; on the other hand they're signing agreements with big corporations in which they're allowing them to bring in foreign workers."




more




Foreign workers: Microsoft gets green light from Ottawa for foreign trainees - Politics - CBC News

 

[WLDB]

Well thats annoying.

 

[JLM]

Well thats annoying.

In a few situations there's not much choice. My city of 55,000, lacks eye specialists (who treat people to prevent potential blindness) There's just not too many at the E.I. line up who have those qualifications.

 

[petros]

Students are now workers?

 

[WLDB]

In a few situations there's not much choice. My city of 55,000, lacks eye specialists (who treat people to prevent potential blindness) There's just not too many at the E.I. line up who have those qualifications.

I can see that if they looked for Canadians first. It most cases they dont seem to. Here they are taking up most of the lower paying jobs at stores and restaurants which makes it difficult for teenagers and students to get anything even if only part time.

Students are now workers?

I worked as much as I could through university.

 

[Sal]

there's a shocker eh...

 

[petros]

I can see that if they looked for Canadians first.

I worked as much as I could through university.

Canadians from Asia who are bilingual that want to go work in Asia?

I had no choice.

 

[JLM]

Students are now workers?

I think there's the odd one who has good intentions. Faith my boy!

 

[WLDB]

I think there's the odd one who has good intentions. Faith my boy!

The only ones that dont are the ones who have rich parents. The vast majority of students dont have that luxury.

 

[JLM]

The only ones that dont are the ones who have rich parents. The vast majority of students dont have that luxury.

Yep, from my experience they are definitely the worst- no f**king clue that money doesn't grow on trees. Then close behind them are the ones who want a raise in pay before they know anything.

 

[taxslave]

According to the article they are not really here to work but to be trained by microsoft. And even if they do work software development isn't exactly a no skills job.

 

[petros]

400 students in a facility that employs how many Canadians at a school that could be 100 miles away in Seattle close to corporate head office needing housing and necessities of life is a good boost to any economy and why is that a bad thing?

 

[tay]

In a few situations there's not much choice. My city of 55,000, lacks eye specialists (who treat people to prevent potential blindness) There's just not too many at the E.I. line up who have those qualifications.

Yes well the subject is IT/Computers. You know the trade that all governments have been encouraging Canadians to stay in school for as they are, well were supposed to be the jobs of the future.


I'm not sure why they can't train Canadian kids since their unemployment rate is so high.


Maybe you didn't understand the key word in the headline, that being EXEMPTED

And let's not let Christy off the hook for this either..............






Tech giant exempted from new rules for finding Canadians to fill jobs




Truth is those jobs never were going to Canadians. .Microsoft has been planning to expand their Vancouver sales office since 2007 to circumvent US H1-B immigration restrictions on importing foreign IT specialists :

Amid challenges getting enough foreign programmers admitted into the U.S., Microsoft plans to open a development center in Canada. (link is external)

"The new software development center will open somewhere in the Vancouver, British Columbia, area and will be "home to software developers from around the world," Microsoft said in a statement on Thursday.




As Microsoft’s deputy general counsel Karen Jones repeated to Businessweek last May :


Vancouver Welcomes Tech Companies Hampered by US Work Visa Caps (link is external):


“The U.S. laws clearly did not meet our needs,” she says. “We have to look to other places.” Microsoft opened a small office in Vancouver in 2007, when U.S. visa applications for the first time quickly surpassed the congressional limit. Microsoft will hire and train 400 software developers from around the world to work on mobile and cloud projects. Jones says Microsoft didn’t choose to expand in Vancouver “purely for immigration purposes, but immigration is a factor.


”The Canadian government will grant the imported IT workers 24 month visas to work at Microsoft's Centre of Excellence - 12 months more than is required by rules under intra-company transfers before they can be cycled into the US.

• Discussions with federal officials in the Departments of Employment and Social Development, Citizenship and Immigration, Industry Canada and Privy Council Office regarding the establishment of the British Columbia Excellence Centre to facilitate entry into Canada of foreign nationals to work in software development on a rotational basis under the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.

Meanwhile out here in BC, Christy Clark and her ministers of jobs and technology (link is external) have been meeting with other Microsoft lobbyists (link is external) this the past year : "To support Microsoft's efforts to communicate its various activities in BC relating to the recently announcement BC Centre of Excellence in Vancouver."

 

[lone wolf]

Oh Cripes! More Microsoft security specialists....

 

[JLM]

Yes well the subject is IT/Computers. You know the trade that all governments have been encouraging Canadians to stay in school for as they are, well were supposed to be the jobs of the future.


"

Computer technology isn't a "job" in the strict sense of the word. It's more like a conveyance, it facilitates many other jobs. It's also very fluid, what we knew about computers 10 years ago is virtually f**king useless now.