Feds, provinces continue to disagree on changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program

The federal and provincial governments remain at odds over Labour Minister Jason Kenney's changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Kenney met with his provincial counterparts in Charlottetown, on Friday and, while he may have wanted to talk about apprenticeship programs, the central theme of the post-summit press conference was the TFW.

"Some of my colleagues said they have special concerns and I said 'well you know I'm always open to hearing from you, to receiving your questions," Kenney said.

"With respect to the package of reforms for the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the idea was to ensure that Canadians come first on the labour market and that this Temporary Foreign Worker program be there on a limited basis and as a last resort."

Last month, Kenney introduced reforms for the TFW in an effort to curb fraud and to ensure Canadians had the first opportunity to access jobs.

The new rules include a cap on the number of workers coming to Canada for low-wage jobs, a ban on TFWs in low-skilled industries in high unemployment areas, and an increase in processing fees and fines for those employers who abuse the program.

On CBC News, Kenney reiterated that, while there might be some room for certain market exemptions, he doesn't intend to reverse any of the changes he made to the program.

"The truth is, there's always resistance to change," he said.

"At the end of the day we need to ensure that Canadians come first in the job market and the program is used in a last and limited resort.

[ Related: Immigration advocates, small businesses decry overhaul of Temporary Foreign Worker program ]

Over the past couple of weeks, however, provincial governments and industry leaders have publicly complained that Kenney went too far.

In Prince Edward Island, the government is concerned about the reforms' affects on that province's seafood industry.

[The industry has] concerns about not being able to access the labour force necessary to process their product," Allen Roach, PEI Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning told CBC's Power and Politics on Thursday afternoon.

"And when that doesn't happen, the product doesn't leave, the company doesn't make money and that affects the economy of all of Prince Edward Island."

On the same program, Alberta's Minister of Jobs, Kyle Fawcett said that his province's employers who require low-skilled workers are going to struggle as a result of the new rules.

"These changes will have severe economic consequences for all businesses in Alberta," Fawcett said.

"We certainly agree, Canadians in general and Albertans deserve the opportunity to access the jobs that are available first.

"Our challenges is that we need 96,000 workers over the next 10 years, that's what we're predicting our shortage to be in all skill levels and in all industries. And the immigrant population is a significant portion of our strategy."

And, in British Columbia, the film and television industry is worried about how Kenney's changes which now classify international actors and production crews as temporary foreign workers and subject to a $1,000 fee and 15-day waiting period.

"This bureaucratic 15-day waiting period does not work with our timelines," Shawn Williamson, president of Vancouver's Brightlight Pictures, told the National Post.

“[If things don't change, U.S. studios] will start taking a look at Canada and considering other alternatives. They could easily switch to Louisiana and take advantage of the incentives there."

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While Friday's meeting may not have appeased the provinces with regard to the TFW, Kenney and the ministers claimed that the meeting was, over all, a success.

According to Kenney, the feds and provinces did agree to an apprenticeship harmonization program, on collaboration for gathering labour market data and to take renewed action on foreign credential recognition.

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