28. The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent – Evaluation of Low-skilled Temporary Foreign Worker Programs

SUMMARY

Organizers:

Don DeVoretz
Simon Fraser University
CANADA
devoretz@sfu.ca

Yves Gingras
Human Resources Development CANADA
yves.gingras@spg.org

Dougall Aucoin
Citizenship and Immigration CANADA
dougall.aucoin@8351ssd.cina.cic.x400.gc.ca

Description:

In Canada, as in most of the industrialized world, globalization and the liberalization of trade have resulted in demands for the facilitated movement of foreign labour. In general, countries have patterned their immigration and temporary worker programs to attract the highly skilled as they are, by and large, considered to have the flexible skills necessary to contribute in the knowledge economy.

That being said, there are also significant pressures by employers and developing countries to allow for the entry of foreign workers in low-skilled occupations that cannot be fully filled from within the domestic labour markets. The purpose of this workshop will be to evaluate a number of low-skilled migration programs from the perspective of both the receiving and the sending countries. In particular, the workshop will present the features, and advantages / disadvantages of foreign worker programs in Japan, Canada, the US, and Mexico. A panel discussion will take place following the presentations.

Presenters

Jorge Aceytuno, Human Resources Development CANADA
Don DeVoretz, Simon Fraser University, CANADA
Jutta Heinrichs, Associated Economic Consultants, CANADA
Yves Gingras, Human Resources Development CANADA
John Hayfron, University of Bergen, NORWAY
Susan Martin, Georgetown University, UNITED STATES
Chieko Tanimura, Asia Pacific Foundation, CANADA

Schedule of Workshop