Alberta lifts curbs on TFW program, seeks to solve skilled worker crunch

With the intention to meet the workforce requirements of employers in the province, Alberta has lifted its restrictions on hiring TFWs (Temporary Foreign Workers) from May 1, 2022.

Before this new measure was introduced, the government of Alberta had a “refusal to process” list of occupations. This list contained jobs, the applications for which employers couldn’t file to the Government of Canada to hire TFWs in the province via Alberta PNP draws.

Understanding the change

The Alberta government has been in denial to process applications under TFWP for certain occupations, as per the policy of the Government of Alberta. The government had refused to allow employers to seek foreign workers to arrive in the province via Alberta PNP stating that for those occupations there was a surplus of labor. The plan was to urge employers to recruit unemployed natives of Alberta.

Then the on-the-ground trends motivated the Alberta government to loosen the restriction on Alberta employers recruiting foreign nationals. The acute shortage of skilled labor to facilitate the progress of the province’s economy and the inability to find enough Canadian candidates played a major role in the new decision.

For this, the TFWP took up the task of enabling employers in Alberta to hire skilled foreign nationals to fill job vacancies that are currently over 88,000 in number. What the employer is required to do is to submit an LMIA application to the Government of Canada.

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The Government of Canada will then do an evaluation of whether the hiring of the foreign national would have a positive or no effect on the Canadian labor market. It must be proven that there’s an absence of qualified workers in Canada available to join the occupation.

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In case a positive/neutral LMIA is granted, it’s time for the foreign worker to advance and submit an application for a work permit to IRCC for the selected foreign worker.

The latest measure of relaxing the restrictions on Alberta’s TFW program will boost the influx of skilled foreign nationals. They can migrate to Canada via Alberta PNP. The importance of skilled foreign workers stems also from the fact that newcomers in Alberta could create an environment wherein more natives of Alberta can be provided employment.

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