Foreign workers wary of prospects

Slowing economy sees migrants facing layoffs

By Tamara Gignac, Calgary Herald
January 4, 2009

Andreas Junkier (vest) and Uwe Schulz came to find a better life in Canada but now have to return to Germany after they were laid off.

Photograph by: Lorraine Hjalte, Calgary Herald

Alberta's need for temporary foreign workers to fill everything from fast-food jobs to oilsands construction contracts could be losing steam, along with the economy.

The province has for years grappled with a labour shortage -- the result of a dizzying building boom coupled with a changing demographic that is seeing baby boomers preparing to retire.

The solution has been a flood of immigrants into Alberta, most of whom are living here on one-or two-year visas at the request of an employer.

Alberta is home to almost one in five of the foreign workers living in Canada -- some 30,000 people--who do everything from make beds in hotels to operate machinery in Fort McMurray's oilsands.

"We've been fortunate in Alberta--but if the worldwide recession continues for any length of time, it's probably going to catch up to us," said Alberta's Employment and Immigration Minister Hector Goudreau.

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