Alberta to review Canadian work visa policy
July 22 2010 by Liam Clifford
Alberta says that the current temporary Canadian work visa system is no longer working for the province.
Local minister Thomas Lukaszuk, said that the programme had fulfilled
its purpose and that there has been a huge number of people moving to
Alberta with Canadian work permits in recent times. However, he added,
"It's not working well now. It's a temporary solution to a permanent
problem."
The region has decided to hold a series of roundtable discussions on the
issue, that will result in a set of recommendations to be made to the
federal government.
The region has seen the largest boom in temporary foreign workers moving
to Canada, with 66,000 temporary Canadian work visas holders living
there as of December last year. This is up from just 16,000 living in
Alberta under the same visa restrictions four years earlier.
Lukaszuk claims that the fact that the Canadian visas only let people work in
Canada for a maximum of two years means businesses can abuse the system
by continually hiring people with temporary visas.
He stated, "Anecdotally ... probably the top 80 per cent of temporary
foreign workers, given the chance, would love to just stay." 
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