Overseas Filipino Worker News

Reports coming from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (OFW) in Manila indicated that Canada have signified hiring more Overseas Filipino Workers.

According to the POEA chief, Rosalinda Baldoz, a group of Canadian employers are in the Philippines with expressed intention of hiring more overseas Filipino workers.

Baldoz also stressed that recruitment will have to go through licensed recruitment agencies in the Philippines and prohibits charging the applicants for placement fees.

Most of the employers present in the recruitment mission in Manila are from the cities of Regina and Saskatoon, both in the province of Saskatchewan.

Some Canadian provinces have signed agreements with the Philippine government regarding more access for Filipino workers for employment in Canadian businesses having trouble with their local recruitment efforts.

I got this email on 13Feb2008 from a friend of ours who is a Certified Immigration Consultant in Canada. She just got back from Edmonton, Alberta on a business trip - meeting some employers there who’s willing to hire foreign workers.

I’m not present so I don’t know the details of her email but one thing we know of - she’s a very honest and frank person and is very dedicated in helping those who wanted to move or work in Canada.

So, read below her email and when you do contact her, please tell her that you got her contact info from Royal Vacations Travel - your Travel Agency for Philippine trips.

Hello everyone,

After 30 years residing in Ontario, Canada, I finally took the opportunity to visit Alberta, a 3 hour flight.We Ontarians thought Alberta is so much colder ( well it is) but it’s bearable for as long as you “bundle up”. I attended the seminar in Edmonton ( capital of Alberta) on Wednesday, February 6. The seminar is about ” Hiring Foreign Workers”. The seminar was held in Westin Hotel in downtown area and was attended by recruiters and immigration professionals ( lawyers and consultants). They had 8 speakers representing various government agencies that are involved in either processing of foreign worker applications or certification of trades workers. I looked around and I saw Filipinos there who are either in the recruiting business or considering of going into the business. The seminar was 3 hour long and at the end we had the Q&A portion.

In summary, this is what I learned:

1) Alberta needs people to fill in job vacancies. Large retail stores ( Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Staples, Best Buy, etc,), hotels ( Westin, Ramada, Quality Inn, etc), grocery stores ( Superstore, Safeway), construction companies or contractors,beverage companies like Tim Hortons and food chain outlets - Mcdonald’s, A&W,EDO( Japanese food),Subway, KFC, they are all hiring.

2) The placement should be paid by the employer NOT by the employee. POEA has issued an advisory memo to local Philippine recruiting agencies to abide by this rule of they can lose their license. Alberta, along with Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba have a legislation prohibiting recruiters from charging placement fee to employees.

3) The application to hire foreign workers which is submitted by the employer to Service Canada to obtain a positive Labour Market Opinion (LMO), on average takes 6 to 8 months, UNLESS the occupation falls under the ELMO (expedited labour market opinion) category. Those occupations that fall under the ELMO should only take 5 days to process.

4) In Manila, processing work permit applications may take 6 to 8 months, due to backlog. So many applicants, not enough immigration officers. In other countries, work permit applications on average take 3 to 4 months.

5) For trades skills, such as, welders, carpenters, pipe fitters, mechanics, that have licensing requirements, foreign workers who hold work permit need to pass the certification examination within 6 months from arrival, or their work permit will not be renewed.They are issued a one year work permit, which is renewable if they pass the qualifying exam. Within six months, they can write the exam 2 times, in some special cases they are allowed 3 times.

6) Foreign workers who work in food chain outlets as food servers can only work for 2 years, then they must exit Canada. After four months, they may re-enter Canada again on work permit if they are either re-hired by their present employer or if they find another employer.

7) Foreign workers who work in semi-skilled occupations in the hospitality industry, such as front desk clerks and room attendants ; food processing and beverage, such as Tim Hortons, or Maple Leafs farm; manufacturing such as assembly line workers; have a chance of applying for Permanent Resident status through Alberta’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). However, there is a limit on how many an employer can appoint for PNP. A large company who employs 451 and more employees can only appoint 18 foreign workers maximum a year.

Clearly, most of these foreign workers will have to leave Canada after two years. Only a few fortunate ones, those who are appointed by their employers for PNP application can remain and eventually become Permanent residents,as long as they meet all the requirements for Permanent Resident application.

When I went to West Edmonton Mall, considered the biggest in the world, I walked around the food court area and most of the food servers are Filipino foreign workers. Hotels’ room attendants are also mostly Filipino foreign workers. I spoke to someone who is working at KFC and she said she’s been working in Alberta for one year but worries that she will go back to the Philippines after her second year. The majority of food chain workers have the same fear. Fast food outlets do not qualify to appoint foreign workers for PNP. One fortunate man.also a Filipino foreign worker I met who works as an assistant manager in one of Tim Horton’s outlets has already been appointed, meaning he was nominated by his employer for PNP and is eligible to apply for Permanent Resident status.

There are plenty of jobs but the majority of Albertan employers prefer to fill the job vacancies either locally or inter-provincially. They think hiring foreign workers is costly. They have to pay the placement fee, they may have to pay the airfare and relocation costs. Also, it is a longer process to bring in foreign workers. Certainly, for Canadian residents,citizens and permanent residents, Alberta offers better and more employment opportunities. My 21 year old daughter came with me, gave out resumes to retail stores in West Edmonton Mall and got a job offer on the spot. Within 24 hours she got 2 more job offers.There is one downside to working in Alberta,Finding an affordable place to rent.

If you know anyone who is interested in working in Canada, whether they are in the Philippines or in other countries, tell them to email their resumes to :

info@workerpluscanada.com or alim2k2@yahoo.com

Our website address: www.workerpluscanada.com

I am looking for medical staff workers - nurses, health care aides, doctors preferably who work in hospitals or nursing homes outside of the Philippines ( Saudi, UK, Singapore,Dubai,Israel) and skilled workers - civil engineers, mechanical engineers,electrical engineers, welders,iron workers, pipe fitters, construction work helpers, carpenters, cabitnet makers, framers, heavy equipment mechanics, machinist, etc.

Regards,

Mila V. Echevarria
Certified Canadian Immigration Consultant
Member, Canadian Society of Immigration Consultant (CSIC)

There you go. Get moving and gather more info from her.

An immigration bill which will be of benefit to foreign workers in the United States Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) was proposed recently by the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The bill proposes to grant permanent residency to all foreign workers who have been working and living legally in CNMI continously for five years or more.

To be eligible, the local officials of the Northern Mariana Islands had said applicants must prove that they have no criminal records and have maintained a good standing in their community. Each applicant for permanent residency shall also undergo background checks for criminal or terrorism records and must also pass a medical examination. This means that not all foreign worker applicant would be accepted in the list of becoming a permanent resident even though they have satisfied the five year residency requirement.

The mandatory five year residency condition was set by the local government of CNMI so that would be successful permanent residents will have established roots in the Islands. This is necessary because they are worried that once granted the permanent resident visa too early might encourage the foreign worker to leave CNMI for other U.S. jurisdiction which will leave the local economy to suffer.

For those who do not meet the five year residency requirement but are already legally working in the Islands, a CNMI-only guest worker program or the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act’s provisions for foreign workers, was presented as an option so they can legally stay or work in the CNMI.

More info:
http://www.doi.gov/oia/press/2007/02082007.html
http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=3&newsID=71677
http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=70542