Alberta suspends hiring of Filipino migrant workers

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said Alberta has temporarily stopped the hiring of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and other migrants so it could employ Canadians instead.

In an online advisory, POEA disclosed Alberta imposed a two-year ban for its employers from availing of its Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

The TFWP allows Canadian employers to hire expatriates on a temporary basis to fill up their vacancies if they will be able to prove that there is not enough qualified Canadian residents or permanent residents for it.

The ban in Alberta will cover the following job categories:

Human resources managers; Engineering managers; Purchasing agents and officers; Production logistics coordinators; Civil engineers; Mechanical engineers; Electrical and electronic engineers; Geological and mineral technologists and technicians; Civil engineering technologists and technicians; Industrial engineering and manufacturing technologists and technicians;

Non-destructive testers and inspection technicians; Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations; Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors; Welders and related machine operators; Electricians (except industrial and power system); Industrial electricians;

Plumbers; Carpenters; Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades; Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews; Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics; Heavy-duty equipment mechanics; Motor vehicle body repairers; Transport truck drivers;

Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling and services; Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers; Oil and gas well drilling and related workers and services operators; Oil and gas drilling, servicing and related laborers; Petroleum, gas and chemical process operators

The local government of Alberta noted it has enough unemployed highly skilled Alberta citizens for the current job vacancies for the aforementioned skill categories.

POEA, however, noted OFWs and other foreign workers, who belong to the categories and hired in Alberta prior to April 29, 2017, will not be affected by the ban.