ristoHurtado remembers his first visit to
Southern Alberta’s Paskal Cattle Company in 2006.
The young veterinarian had travelled from his home in
Monterrey, Mexico, to explore the possibility of pursuing a new
life in Canada as a temporary foreign worker.
“We came in May,” recalled Hurtado. “It wasn’t green yet,
but there was no snow at all. [Company president] Rick Paskal
told me, ‘All this is going to be white in winter.’ I couldn’t even
picture that in my head.”
Nine years (and nine Canadian winters) later, that snowy
landscape has become home to Hurtado, his wife and their two
young sons (the younger one born in Lethbridge). This past May,
the family made the final step in their transition by becoming
Canadian citizens. In the meantime, Hurtado has risen to the
position of Paskal’s general manager in charge of grain buying.
It’s a familiar story on the Canadian Prairies. In recent
years, temporary foreign workers have played an ever more
prominent role in the labour market, including the agricultural
sector. But recent changes to Canada’s Temporary Foreign
Worker Program (TFWP) may turn stories like Hurtado’s into the
exception rather than the rule.
When Hurtado came to Alberta, he left behind a steady
job with a Monterrey food processor. His girlfriend (now his
wife) had been living in Manitoba with a Canadian friend and
regularly coaxed him to follow her lead.
One day, when a delegation of Canadian farmers visited the
processing plant in Monterrey, an understanding boss tagged
Hurtado to give them a tour.“ He knew I was exploring this
option.” The group included Paskal. At the end of the visit,
Hurtado gathered his courage and told Paskal he had been
considering a move to Canada. “Rick said, ‘Give me a call and
we’ll talk.’”
In the months that followed, Hurtado took Paskal at his word,
peppering him with endless questions about life in Alberta.
“I asked him about the schools. I asked him if you could buy
peppers there. I asked him how much meat costs. I guess Rick
got sick of my questions. He said, ‘Just come and visit, and see it
for yourself.’”
Over the duration of his initial two-year TFWP permit,
Hurtado had enough time to work his way through the
bureaucratic hoops and achieve permanent resident status.
Future foreign workers may not be so lucky.
On June 20, 2014, the federal government announced
significant changes to the TFWP, promising “a balanced set of
reforms to ensure that employers put Canadian workers first.”
Major changes included an increase in the Labour Market
Impact Assessment fee paid by employers, to $1,000 from
$275 for every requested temporary foreign worker position;
caps on the percentage of “low wage” temporary foreign
workers an employer may hire (“low wage” being interpreted as
any wage falling below the provincial median); and a reduction
in the duration of work permits, to one year from two years
(full details at
).
In February, news broke that the federal government had
introduced bridging measures for TFWs who came to Canada
in 2011 or earlier. This is a one-year extension for TFWs seeking
Spring
2015
grainswest.com
27
Feeling the pain of Canada’s
temporary foreignworkers
by SCOTT ROLLANS • Photography by BRYCE MEYER
C
Eduardo Gomez (top) works to repair a broken fence at Paskal Cattle Co. in Picture
Butte, while Cristo Hurtado (bottom) stops to take a business call. Hurtado is a
Canadian citizen, while Gomez is still navigating through government paperwork.
