Posted Oct 21, 2016, 1:28 AM
|
|
Registered User
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: BC
Posts: 4,593
|
|
Help us or we may leave Vancouver, Lululemon tells Ottawa
Quote:
One of Vancouver’s most successful companies is warning it may be forced to move its 1,200-employee head office outside the country because of problems with the federal government’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
Vancouver-based Lululemon Athletica Inc., which earlier this year delivered a scathing written critique of the strict TFW rules on hiring foreigners, wants the same kind of exemption Ottawa grants to universities, the film industry and Microsoft.
That would allow the athletic apparel retailer, with global revenue of $2.1 billion in 2015, to avoid going through a time-consuming labour market impact assessment (LMIA) process before recruiting a senior manager or design expert from one of the world’s apparel hubs, like London, New York or San Francisco.
“Our growth and our ability to remain headquartered in Vancouver will require that the vertically-integrated apparel industry be granted a similar LMIA transition plan exemption as the film industry and academia,” the company stated in a paper submitted to the House of Commons finance committee in late July.
The B.C. Federation of Labour this week accused Lululemon of issuing a “threat,” though the Business Council of B.C. said Ottawa should make it easier to bring in people with specialized technical and professional skills.
Lululemon executives were asked Tuesday morning to comment on the statement to MPs about its head office, but as of late Wednesday afternoon the company hadn’t responded.
Ottawa’s market assessment process, toughened through reforms by the Conservative government of the day in 2014, includes the requirement that companies advertise openings to Canadians over a lengthy period before they can offer jobs to foreign workers.
Other companies in B.C.’s apparel industry, which had a total $3 billion in sales last year, also need greater freedom to headhunt around the world, according to Lululemon.
“In order to keep growing, our industry needs to continue to attract and retain top international talent, from specialized design roles to specialized technical product development and testing roles, and much more.”
The exemptions should apply, it said, to a specific group of hard-to-find employees: senior managers, especially those in areas like purchasing and manufacturing, and experts in design and product development.
The company said it already invests considerable time and money trying to train and recruit employees, but that there isn’t a deep enough talent pool in Canada to meet the company’s needs.
...
The former government, after being heavily criticized for the widespread and growing use of foreign workers, especially in low-wage sectors, toughened rules in 2014 to make it an option of last resort.
John McCallum, the immigration minister in the Trudeau government, indicated over the summer that the government is prepared to accept temporary foreign worker changes by getting rid of “silly rules” that hurt businesses.
The House of Commons committee on human resources, skills and social development, in a report last month to the federal government, recommended “that some industry-specific exemptions be contemplated.”
The report came from MPs who had heard testimony from a number of B.C. companies and organizations, including Lululemon, the Whistler Chamber of Commerce and, speaking in support of the city’s high-tech sector, the City of Vancouver. All wanted a smoother route to hiring foreigners.
Federal reforms are expected in late 2016 or early 2017.
|
|
Prev
Linear Mode
