Replace temporary foreign workers program with immigration, incentives: critics

OTTAWA – How to solve a problem like the federal government’s scandal-plagued temporary foreign workers program?

Economists and immigration experts say there are solutions at hand for the Conservative government as it grapples with yet another controversy.

The latest scandal involves two long-serving Saskatchewan waitresses who say they were recently fired while their temporary foreign worker colleagues were spared.

Jeffrey Reitz, an immigration expert at the University of Toronto, says one option would be to allow more unskilled immigrants into Canada on condition they settle in areas with labour shortages.

David Green, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia, says the free market must be allowed to do its work without any government interference.

Green says if a fast-food restaurant in booming Fort McMurray, Alta., refuses to improve wages and working conditions, it will suffer the consequences. If it pays better, however, workers will stay put.

Larry Lubich, head of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, says the government should focus on luring more immigrants to areas with labour shortages and provide them with community support.

Follow Lee-Anne Goodman on Twitter at @leeanne25