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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 8 51 mmigration lawyers say that while the government seems to be listening and adapting to the needs of employ- ers, more clarity and coherence is needed in the various foreign worker programs and some provincial busi- ness immigration programs should be adjusted. Businesses looking to hire tempo- rary foreign workers either work with the temporary foreign worker program or the international mobility program. To protect the Canadian labour market, those applying to the former category need to prove that they cannot fill the position with qualified Canadian labour, which they demonstrate though a labour market impact assessment through Employment and Social Development Canada. These assessments suffer from lack of transparency and clear policy from Ottawa, says Jacqueline Bart, principal and founder of BartLaw Canadian Immi- gration. Lawyers like Bart deal with ESDC offi- cials when they advise clients undergoing the LMI assessments and she says the various offices throughout the country handle cases differently, leaving her and her colleagues not knowing what to expect or tell clients. "It's basically a crapshoot," she says. "It's like pin the tail on the donkey. That's the whole labour market impact assessment process." The federal government should come up with a clear, comprehensive standard to apply to the LMI assessments, she says. "The government's been promising a manual and a clear policy and for years. Immigration counsel throughout Canada are extraordinarily frustrated by this." Part of the reason LMI assessments can be unpredictable is because of the discre- tion that the ESDC officials have regarding each case. Gabriela Ramo, senior associate and senior manager at KPMG Law LLP, says that, while the inconsistency this cre- ates in the LMI assessment process is frus- trating, she is apprehensive about limiting that discretion. "You don't want the pendulum to swing too far the other way," she says. "I agree that it's frustrating that if you file two identical applications you could get two different answers," she says. "But I am always a little bit ner- vous about pushing too much on that discretion side because we also don't want a rigid system where there's no flexibility for unusual circumstances." To complete an LMI assessment, the employer must advertise the job for a month and if there are applicants, explain to the ESDC why those candi- L E G A L R E P O RT \ I M M I G R AT I O N NATHAN HACKETT Attracting foreign workers Immigration lawyers say federal and provincial business immigration programs have improved but challenges remain By Aidan Macnab I the workplace issue