Foreign Workers are “the future of Atlantic Canada”

“Help Wanted” signs are seen in windows throughout the city. Businesses appear to be begging people to apply. While the issue of labour shortages across Canada is getting a lot of attention, this is a problem New Brunswick has been dealing with for years. Foreign workers may provide the labour businesses need to stay open.

Heather Shaddick is the Miramichi general manager for Tim Horton’s. This means she looks after five locations in the Miramichi area, as well as the Doaktown and Neguac location. She is closing in on 30 years at the company.

She says many things have changed since she started, “when I applied you were lucky to get a job, now just to get people to apply is a struggle.”

A big part of Shaddick’s job is navigating the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP). In 2017 Tim Horton’s became an endorsed employer, meaning they could offer foreign workers positions, help them get to Canada and encourage them to apply for permanent residency. Making this happen comes with a lot of paperwork.

“That’s the future of Atlantic Canada.”

She says its essential that New Brunswick gets these workers. Shaddick is concerned about where the province will be in 10 years, “with our aging population, this is something everyone should be concerned about.”

Juliette Cabana works at the Miramichi Regional Multicultural Association, an organization dedicated to helping immigrants settle into the community. She says as the baby boomer generation begins to retire the labour market will be impacted. Foreign workers are essential to the Canadian labour shortage.

“We need to push past the myths that a lot of people hold around immigrants, we need the skills, we need these newcomers.”

Since the start of the AIPP the number of immigrants has grown drastically.

“We have not seen an influx of newcomers like this since the war brides after World War II, and before that, the Irish with the Irish potato famine,” said Cabana.

The MRMA started out as a social group in 2005 but formalized into a non-profit organization in 2008.

Shaddick’s smile widens as she says she stays connected to many of the people she helped employ in Canada. There was Miguel, from Costa Rica, “it’s his birthday today.” He was one of the first workers she helped to Canada. She spoke a lot about a woman named Nadia Berta from Argentina. She was a dietician during the day and worked in a supervisor position at a high-end restaurant at night. She had a beautiful smile. She was positive she wanted to come to Canada.

Berta explained she would never be able to buy a house where she lived, she would rent forever. She also sent Shaddick a list of groceries and the cost in American dollars. She lived at the bottom tip of Argentina; it was remote. Berta said she understood what coming to Canada would mean career-wise, she still wanted to come.

Berta and her husband now own a home in Miramichi. She moved on from Tim Hortons and now works at a naturopath clinic.

Shaddick said it’s difficult to get to Canada, and it costs so much money. To be accepted, a language test must be passed, sometimes at considerable expense. Berta had to take a plane to the test location — it needs be in person. Sometimes it can take years to get the necessary documents together, and a person must have a certain amount of money saved for when they arrive in Canada.

Shaddick explained away a lot of the misconceptions average Canadians may have about foreign workers. Immigrants must apply and be accepted for permanent residency before they are eligible for employment insurance. The must have full time work for a year before they are able to apply to be permanent residence. She points out they are paying taxes without the benefits and without government “handouts”.

The lack of a safety net, or financial support mean employees show up to work. Shaddick says having someone reliable and hardworking makes a huge difference in the workplace.

“They show up to work when they aren’t feeling good… they burn themselves and they show up for work, they don’t have the choice to take the summer off or get a sick note from their doctor.”

She says she has a great local team, and they are happy to have foreign workers come in, relieving the pressure the labour shortage has created.

Kanela Villanera grew up in the Municipality of Majayjay, in the Philippines. She received a Bachelor of Science in Food technology at the University of Santo Thomas. There were not a lot of jobs in that line of work, so she started at a Starbucks. She stayed for eight years and ended up managing a store.

Her management experience made her eligible for the AIPP program. She secured a job at A&W and left the Philippines in 2017.

“Before I came, I had an idea how living in Canada would be, Gelo was working in B.C in 2013.”

Gelo is her husband, Mark Angelo. He worked and paid taxes in British Columbia from 2013–2016 but was denied permanent residency. He went back to the Philippines.

When Villanera applied in 2017, she was able to secure permanent residency for herself, her husband, and her daughter.

She now works at Agropur Cooperative dealing with milk and milk products. A job she is qualified for from her time at university in the Philippines.

“We never imagined that we could have our own house, I think Miramichi is a nice quiet place to raise kids…I have no doubts or regrets moving here,” Villanera wrote, they added a baby to their family in 2019.