Manitoba might be doing it best through a legislated approach. There, employers who are seeking TFWs are first linked to a database of out-of-work or under-employed professionals already living in Canada. Canada already has many skilled immigrants who are un- and under-employed. Before resorting to the TFW program, we should be tapping into this talent pool.

Second, provincial employment agencies could think of themselves more explicitly as fulfilling an HR function for small and medium sized enterprises. These agencies often know exactly who is looking for work in their communities and which skills they possess, while many SMEs have no expertise or department to help them hire strategically.

If local businesses could think of provincial employment agencies as their HR department, these agencies would be able to quickly connect workers to available positions, making it possible to deliver the benefits of the TFW program with workers who are already in Canada.

Third, employers, governments, and agencies should work together to develop locally based labour market information. Many groups, like the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, already do so for their own sector. If these existing efforts are combined, the quality of information could be improved. Such local efforts should not replace the need for the federal government to improve its national data collection and dissemination efforts.

Fourth, the way we describe the skills needed for particular positions should become simpler and more easily understood.  We desperately need common language that employers, governments and agencies agree on to describe the skills required for particular jobs.

Right now, many use terms like “Canadian experience” and “5 years in the workforce” as shorthand to indicate that potential employees must possess some set of implicit skills. Instead, we should use what is referred to as “competency-based language.” Such an approach would help government and employers more clearly identify which precise skills are needed for a job, who has them, and how to either train workers locally or recruit them from abroad.

When employers use the TFW program, they clearly disregard workers’ lack of Canadian experience. Instead, they focus on concrete skills. There is no reason such a competency based approach cannot be used more broadly when hiring within Canada.

The Temporary Foreign Worker program has been used as an easy short-cut for businesses to quickly fill positions in the absence of locally available workers. But relatively modest changes to our current employment services system could help Canadian firms fill their talent needs right here without recourse to the TFW Program.

The federal government’s proposed changes to the TFW program will reduce its size and scope. Our four suggested improvements to the employment services system in Canada would help employers more easily fill positions. More importantly, they would also ensure that Canadians and permanent residents, including skilled immigrants already in Canada, have access to good quality jobs for which they are qualified.