RP's labor officer in HK moves to new POLO in Canada
HONG KONG - The first Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Western Canada is set to open by the middle of this month in Vancouver, British Columbia, with Labor Attache Bernardino B. Julve at the helm. Julve is due to leave Manila on April 16 to take up his next overseas post after Hong Kong.
He will be mainly based in Vancouver, but will also supervise a satellite office in Calgary, Alberta.
His appointment was among the last to be made by former Labor Secretary Arthur Brion, (who has since taken up the post of Associate Justice at the Supreme Court), and comes amid reports that 1.9 million new jobs will be created across Canada over the next 10 years.
During a recent visit to HK, Julve told The Sun that the biggest need will be for workers in Canada's oil industry. He said that Alberta alone is estimated to have 375 billion barrels of oil reserves from its tar sand. That's as much as what Saudi Arabia is reputed to have.
"When the price of oil rose to US$100 a barrel, they (Canadian officials) decided to develop the industry," he said.
A memorandum of agreement setting out the terms of the deployment of Filipino workers to Alberta is due to be signed soon.
However, Filipino workers will also be hired under separate memorandum of agreements already signed with three other western provinces in Canada---British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Among the approved job orders for Canada listed on the POEA's (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) website are various positions for the construction and hotel industry.
These include the 24,000 temporary workers needed for the Winter Olympics due to be held in British Columbia in 2010.
"That's just two years away, but they have yet to build many of the required infrastructures because of a lack of workers," says Julve.
The province's rapidly expanding economy is also estimated to result in 30,000 permanent jobs being opened each year in the hotel and restaurant and services sector over the next 12 years
Julve says the demand for workers is so great and urgent that the MOA with the four western provinces provide for the hiring of "temporary" workers under two-year contracts. This allows the worker to take up the job offer almost immediately, and not wait for the one-year processing required for those applying as immigrant workers.
The temporary worker is not allowed to bring his family along, but "this should not stop him from applying for immigrant status once he arrives in Canada," says Julve.
Under the MOA, all workers who come to Western Canada are classified as "provincial nominees" and are exempt from paying any fees, including air ticket.
"There should be no collection (of fees) from the worker under any circumstance," says Julve, adding that all costs should be borne by the employer.
An employer who wishes to employ Filipino workers under this scheme may do so under the direct-hire system, but Julve says they are limited to hiring a maximum of five people.
Beyond this, Philippine law requires an employer to go through a recruitment agency.
"Still, no fees should be collected from the worker because that is what Canada specifically requires under the MOA," says Julve. "Yung lalabag dito, ang kalaban ay hindi lang Canada kundi Pilipinas din."
He adds that a worker who wants to apply under this scheme should ensure that the agency not only has a job order, but also a labor market opinion (LMO), which authorizes the employer to import foreign workers.
In line with this, Julve says the Labor Department "has purged agencies that submitted job orders without LMOs and gave them warning."
Recently, the POEA also reportedly suspended the license of a manpower agency that collected as much as US$8,000 from Filipinos who applied for jobs with the A&W restaurant chain in Canada, and initiated charges against its counterpart agency there.
POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz said JFG Career Agency, the counterpart of September Star Inc in Canada, was cited for default in its contractual obligations to the Filipino workers, and for gross violation of laws, rules and regulations on overseas employment.
Filipinos in HK who could be looking at the new recruitment scheme as another way to get into Canada are in for a disappointment, as the MOA only covers recruitment from Manila.
But it may not be for long. "We are looking at the recruitment of OFWs in other countries out of POLOs," says Julve. For as long as that is not yet in place, though, OFWs here will just have to go back to the Philippines and apply from there, if they want to avail of thousands of Canadian jobs that could come into the pipeline soon. - The Sun, HK
He will be mainly based in Vancouver, but will also supervise a satellite office in Calgary, Alberta.
His appointment was among the last to be made by former Labor Secretary Arthur Brion, (who has since taken up the post of Associate Justice at the Supreme Court), and comes amid reports that 1.9 million new jobs will be created across Canada over the next 10 years.
During a recent visit to HK, Julve told The Sun that the biggest need will be for workers in Canada's oil industry. He said that Alberta alone is estimated to have 375 billion barrels of oil reserves from its tar sand. That's as much as what Saudi Arabia is reputed to have.
"When the price of oil rose to US$100 a barrel, they (Canadian officials) decided to develop the industry," he said.
A memorandum of agreement setting out the terms of the deployment of Filipino workers to Alberta is due to be signed soon.
However, Filipino workers will also be hired under separate memorandum of agreements already signed with three other western provinces in Canada---British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Among the approved job orders for Canada listed on the POEA's (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) website are various positions for the construction and hotel industry.
These include the 24,000 temporary workers needed for the Winter Olympics due to be held in British Columbia in 2010.
"That's just two years away, but they have yet to build many of the required infrastructures because of a lack of workers," says Julve.
The province's rapidly expanding economy is also estimated to result in 30,000 permanent jobs being opened each year in the hotel and restaurant and services sector over the next 12 years
Julve says the demand for workers is so great and urgent that the MOA with the four western provinces provide for the hiring of "temporary" workers under two-year contracts. This allows the worker to take up the job offer almost immediately, and not wait for the one-year processing required for those applying as immigrant workers.
The temporary worker is not allowed to bring his family along, but "this should not stop him from applying for immigrant status once he arrives in Canada," says Julve.
Under the MOA, all workers who come to Western Canada are classified as "provincial nominees" and are exempt from paying any fees, including air ticket.
"There should be no collection (of fees) from the worker under any circumstance," says Julve, adding that all costs should be borne by the employer.
An employer who wishes to employ Filipino workers under this scheme may do so under the direct-hire system, but Julve says they are limited to hiring a maximum of five people.
Beyond this, Philippine law requires an employer to go through a recruitment agency.
"Still, no fees should be collected from the worker because that is what Canada specifically requires under the MOA," says Julve. "Yung lalabag dito, ang kalaban ay hindi lang Canada kundi Pilipinas din."
He adds that a worker who wants to apply under this scheme should ensure that the agency not only has a job order, but also a labor market opinion (LMO), which authorizes the employer to import foreign workers.
In line with this, Julve says the Labor Department "has purged agencies that submitted job orders without LMOs and gave them warning."
Recently, the POEA also reportedly suspended the license of a manpower agency that collected as much as US$8,000 from Filipinos who applied for jobs with the A&W restaurant chain in Canada, and initiated charges against its counterpart agency there.
POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz said JFG Career Agency, the counterpart of September Star Inc in Canada, was cited for default in its contractual obligations to the Filipino workers, and for gross violation of laws, rules and regulations on overseas employment.
Filipinos in HK who could be looking at the new recruitment scheme as another way to get into Canada are in for a disappointment, as the MOA only covers recruitment from Manila.
But it may not be for long. "We are looking at the recruitment of OFWs in other countries out of POLOs," says Julve. For as long as that is not yet in place, though, OFWs here will just have to go back to the Philippines and apply from there, if they want to avail of thousands of Canadian jobs that could come into the pipeline soon. - The Sun, HK
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