According to this recent publication from the Alberta Federation of Labour, recent scandals involving “guest” workers at the Royal Bank of Canada and HD mining “are just the tip of the iceberg.”

Through an Access to Information Request, the Alberta Federation of Labour obtained a list of all Temporary Foreign Worker applications that were rubberstamped in the first eight months of the new federal Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (ALMO) process. The document suggests that abuse of the ALMO process is even more widespread than what might have been expected. Although guest-worker permits were intended to be reserved for highly-skilled employment positions, a large number of the guest-worker permits were granted to fast-food restaurants, and there appeared to be minimal review of the applications.

As Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan noted, “Workers who want to come to Canada should enjoy the same rights and privileges as other Canadian residents. We shouldn’t be paying them 15 per cent less than Canadians, and the government shouldn’t be whisking them in through an accelerated and duplicitous process.”