WestJet Airlines made one of the biggest – and perhaps most surprising – announcements. It will no longer be hiring temporary foreign workers into pilot roles under its regional subsidiary, WestJet Encore. The decision comes in the wake of increasing economic uncertainty. It comes on the heels of last month’s approval by the federal government for a labor market impact assessment (LMIA). The LMIA was required in order to prove there were no qualified Canadian citizens or permanent residents to fill the roles.
In fact, locally and regionally, the temporary foreign worker program has put hundreds of thousands of Canadians to work. Over the last 15 years, volumes of both workers and visitors have increased dramatically. This jump has been felt especially sharply in low-wage industries such as agriculture and hospitality. Demand for temporary foreign workers fell off a cliff in the second half of 2022. This steep drop was driven almost entirely by new limitations put in place by the federal government.
The temporary foreign worker program allows non-permanent residents to work in Canada for a maximum of two years. Its purpose is to fill short-term labour shortages when Canadian workers cannot be found. WestJet had aggressively sought out pilot permits through this program. This decision was made in a larger effort to address its persistent staffing woes, especially in statewide operations.
The application process involved determining if “no Canadians or permanent residents are available to do the job,” which is a standard requirement for employers utilizing this program. Instead, the regulations require temporary foreign captains to accrue a minimum of 10 years as first officers to receive full salary. Alternatively, they would earn less than a living wage. This neglects serious fiduciary and climate concerns. The pilots would have to exit Canada before they had the chance to benefit from the large wage increases associated with greater seniority.
The Allied Pilots Association and the Air Line Pilots Association were adamantly opposed to WestJet’s application. They contended that bringing in temporary foreign workers would undercut the union’s hard-won gains in wages and working conditions. Tim Perry, a policy adviser with the Government Accountability Office Union called out a number of problems with this boom in hiring practices.
“Your status in Canada is directly tied to your being a ‘good employee’ through the eyes of the employer,” – Tim Perry
Perry further discussed the difficulties in hiring temp foreign pilots. He warned that it could further complicate the enforcement of collective agreements established for Canadian pilots alone. For one, he explained, these foreign workers are unlikely to speak up to defend current labor protections in the firm.
“They’re not going to act in standing for elements of our collective agreements that we’ve already earned or, in the case of collective bargaining, changes to those collective agreements,” – Tim Perry
Perry expressed his concerns about the public backlash to these hiring practices. He noted that millions of Canadians are experiencing significant anxiety about their jobs with the current political and economic situation.
“I think that would land very poorly with the Canadian public, especially at a time when a lot of jobs and careers are at risk because of the political climate or the economic climate,” – Tim Perry
WestJet made the decision to stop looking for international recruits. The airline indicated it would continue exploring multiple avenues to address operational needs amid an ongoing shortage of captains for WestJet Encore.
“This is one of multiple avenues we are exploring to address operational needs amid an ongoing shortage of WestJet Encore captains,” – Richard Kaiser, spokesperson for WestJet.
