Some Albertans don’t agree with temporary foreign worker’s program: Survey

A poll shows the majority of Albertans are not in favour of the temporary foreign worker’s program. However, one local business saying the program helps the industry survive.

As Canadians continue to grapple with high cost of living, a new Angus Reid poll shows a majority believe bringing in more temporary foreign workers doesn’t work in favour of the local market.

“They’re coming here and work for way less than we can live on,” said one Edmontonian who CityNews spoke to.

According to new data from the Angus Reid Institute, the majority of Canadians support a ‘reduced temporary foreign workers program’, with 46 per cent saying, “they have evidently heard more bad things than good things about the program.”

“We take a sample basically of kind of randomized but representative based of Statistics Canada data,” explained Jon Roe, a research associate with Angus Reid Institute. “We do have a sampling people from across the country, different ages, genders, and different ethnicities.”

The survey polled a total of 1,602 Canadians, and included 156 from Alberta.

“Thirty-eight per cent of Albertans say that they’re taking ‘way too many’ temporary foreign workers. 28 per cent say ‘too many’ and one of the highest across the country,” said Roe.

An Edmontonian CityNews spoke to said, “I spent a year and a half to get a place. They make one phone call and they get in an I get to wait.”

An Edmonton business favours the temporary foreign worker program, saying it allows employers to fill shortages in Canada’s labour market.

“They’re stuck with is for a certain of time so we don’t have to worry about training. Locals, you hire somebody, then all of the sudden after you train them you just waste your money, They just leave,” explained Peter Chan, the director of operations with Good Buddy Restaurant Group.

As Canadians showing more concern over the program, the federal government announced last month that it’s taking steps to reduce the number of temporary foreign workers.

“We need Canadian businesses to invest in training and technology and not increasing the reliance on low-cost foreign labour,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

According to Statistics Canada, Alberta was one of the fastest-growing Canadian provinces in 2023, with a population growing by 4.3 per cent. The Angus Reid survey suggests that the most concerning factor for Albertans as well as other Canadians is housing affordability.