Most B.C. businesses hiring temporary foreign workers (TFW) are seeking low-skilled employees for jobs in urban centres, according to a new website that maps out the distribution of companies approved for the controversial program.
The ntfw.ca site collected data from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to create a map displaying businesses in B.C. and Alberta approved by the government for the TFW program.
According to ESCD, the ministry that oversees the program, employers are only allowed to hire temporary foreign workers “when there is a demonstrable shortage of Canadian citizens and permanent residents.”
Of the more than 500 companies listed on the website, most are in the service sector in heavily populated regions like Metro Vancouver and Victoria.
Businesses like Subway, McDonald’s, Megabite Pizza and throngs of sushi restaurants are among the companies that applied and were approved for the program.
Other Vancouver businesses such as downtown’s Celebrities nightclub, the Canadian College of English Language and the Musqueam Indian Band also made it on to the map.
The creator of the map, Rohana Rezel, said the website was never meant to go live, but it received thousands of hits since the end of April after he shared it with a few friends that then shared it with others.
“The reaction from the (general public) has been very, very positive,” he said.
“From the businesses, it’s been not so positive. I’ve got quite a bit of hate mail saying I’m out to destroy the Canadian businesses and I’ve got people demanding I take them off the site.”
Rezel said the TFW program is not a black and white issue, but he felt it was his duty to share the information with people.
Businesses involved in the program are listed as “bad guys” on the website.
Companies that only hire citizens and permanent residents can also pay the site $20-1,000 for "verification" packages that will put them on a list of "good guys.”
Requests for an interview with a representative from the ESCD were not returned by press time.
