Foreign youth TFW program a risk to youth employment, documents say – The Globe and Mail

More on the TFWP and the youth working holiday program:

David Wright, who was senior policy adviser at the department’s headquarters, noted in an e-mail in August, 2013, what he described as “interesting” results from an Australian survey of a similar program.

“It is young local workers who are the main losers in the competition for employment. This is especially the case for those without post-school education, who are seeking less skilled, entry-level jobs,” the e-mail stated, quoting a report from Australia’s Centre for Population and Urban Research.

The government documents were obtained by immigration lawyer Richard Kurland. The Citizenship and Immigration department did not respond to questions about the documents by late Tuesday.

Mr. Kenney has insisted “these nice young people on their working holiday programs” are not a threat to Canada’s labour market.“I think it’s a pretty benign subset of the temporary foreign worker program,” he said during a 2013 debate in the House of Commons.

… International Experience Canada, the much larger category, was left largely untouched. Canadian employers can hire participants without going through a screening process called Labour Market Opinions that is meant to ensure efforts are made to hire Canadians.

The government has noted that working holiday programs are reciprocal deals that allow Canadians to work in 32 other countries, but it has acknowledged few Canadian youth have taken advantage of it, noting at the time of last year’s reforms that the imbalance “is the most serious concern for this initiative.”

The number of people working in Canada as of Dec. 1 of each year under the program has grown from 25,891 in 2006 to a high of 58,933 in 2012. The numbers dropped in 2013 to 56,313. In contrast, only 17,731 Canadians worked abroad under the program in 2012. Most programs have age limits of 30 or 35.

Youth exchange programs have many benefits for participants and surprised that more Canadian youth aren’t taking advantage of the opportunities.

Foreign youth TFW program a risk to youth employment, documents say – The Globe and Mail.