House committee urges recruitment of foreign workers for gaming sector

The House of Commons heritage committee, with support from government MPs, recommended that the Conservative government work with the video game industry to recruit more foreign workers in Canada, even as the government removed some key elements from its temporary foreign workers program. In a report on Canada's entertainment software industry tabled in Parliament Monday, the House heritage committee recommended that “Citizenship and Immigration Canada and relevant departments work together with video game companies to facilitate the recruitment of specialized foreign workers to Canada.” Jayson Hilchie, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC), said in a phone interview that the association supports the committee recommendations, though changes to the temporary foreign workers program, announced separately on Monday, are a setback. “We're definitely disappointed in that,” Hilchie said, referring to the federal government's immediate suspension on Monday of the accelerated labour market opinion process, which he said the government introduced last year to help speed up the process for companies seeking to hire foreign workers. “To see something that was a positive step forward cancelled, or at least temporarily suspended, was disappointing. It was something that we hoped was going to reduce the delays,” said Hilchie, whose organization represents 350 computer and video game companies in Canada including Electronic Arts Inc., Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. and Microsoft Corp. The government made changes last year to deal with delays—it added the accelerated application process—though the gaming industry “did not see a vast improvement in processing times, even with that introduced,” he said. The Conservative government said at a news conference Monday that it would also cancel a 15 per cent wage discount for “higher skilled” foreign workers and announced additional permit fees for temporary foreign workers. Kellie Leitch, parliamentary secretary to the minister of human resources, said at the news conference that the government will be asking questions as part of the labour market opinion applications—which companies need to bring foreign workers into Canada—to “ensure that when employers bring in a temporary foreign worker, no Canadian worker is displaced as a result of outsourcing.” Some industry groups, such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, criticized the government's changes to the program, calling it an overreaction to a political controversy after news had emerged that a British Columbia mining company hired Chinese workers and Royal Bank of Canada used the program to train foreign workers for outsourcing. One industry source said on a background basis Wednesday that they believe the committee report, tabled in Parliament Monday morning before the government announced the changes at 4 p.m., was developed and written before the political controversy erupted on the temporary foreign workers program. Hilchie said the foreign workers program is important to Canada's gaming industry, which often cannot find specialized labour such as experts on gaming models, senior software developers, technical directors, and artists and designers. Senior jobs cannot be filled by new grads, he said, and Canada's more experienced technology workers often leave the country for better employment. He said demand for specialized skills in the video game sector is changing as the industry looks at new revenue models. “A lot of the video game industry has gone from being a traditional console game that you pay for once, to being social and mobile games that you may actually get for free, and then you have to buy in-app purchases,” Hilchie said. “A lot of the companies are really working on new business models.” He said there have been delays for companies seeking labour market opinions and work permits under a complex process involving two federal departments, the Immigration Department and the Human Resources Department. Hilchie said the demand for specialized skills is more acute in Canada because the country has the third-largest gaming industry in the world, yet one-tenth of the population of the United States. “It puts a strain on resources, that's for sure,” he said. The heritage committee report tabled Monday also recommended that the government look at more support for product commercialization; tax credits for the gaming industry; better high-speed broadband access; and labour training. At the news conference Monday announcing the changes, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the government has been concerned about the program not being used as intended. “Canadians must always have the first crack at available jobs in our economy. The temporary foreign worker program was intended to fill acute labour shortages on a temporary basis only, not to displace Canadian workers,” Kenney said. He said the government will consult with industry, business, trade associations, unions and the provinces in the coming months about “additional changes” to the temporary foreign worker program. Hilchie said the gaming industry will continue talking to the government about the issue of skilled labour. “We have active plans to advance our advocacy on this issue,” he said. —With reporting by Simon Doyle sdoyle@thewirereport.caand editing by Nicholas Kyonka at nkyonka@thewirereport.ca

House committee urges recruitment of foreign workers for gaming sector

News | 05/01/2013 6:26 pm EDT

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