WOW Pinoy

Alberta opens doors to OFWs

The Canadian province of Alberta has opened its doors to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE). The agreement, signed by Labor Secretary Marianito Roque and Alberta Minister of Employment and Immigration Hector Goudreau, will allow Filipino doctors, engineers, nurses, and other professionals to work in the Canadian province. This is the fourth such MoU signed with a Canadian province; the others were with Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Manitoba. "The MoUs with the four Canadian provinces underscore our efforts at ensuring that Filipino workers seeking overseas employment are afforded ample protection from unscrupulous illegal recruiters and exploitative employers overseas," Roque said. The MoU also seeks to ensure that the Philippine workers’ training and credentials are recognized in Alberta and meet the Canadian province’s occupational standards.

It commits to the "ethical recruitment, selection, and protection and skills development" of OFWs who will be deployed there, but did not specify the number of workers to be hired. Deployment would have to meet not just Philippine and Alberta laws, but also those of international bodies. Among these is that no recruitment fees will be charged the worker. "All recruitment costs related to the hiring of OFWs under the MoU shall be covered by the employers in Canada. This means that neither the employment agency in Canada nor the recruitment or sending agency in the Philippines is allowed to charge any recruitment fees in any form from OFWs bound for Alberta," the labor chief said. Roque said OFWs who wish to work in Alberta still need to apply through recruitment agencies authorized to recruit for Canada.

To actualize the MoU, both parties will establish a working committee tasked to coordinate activities on their shared priorities. For the Philippines, the labor department will develop mechanisms to facilitate the deployment of qualified OFWs to Alberta, including those living outside the Philippines. As a start, Alberta employers who wish to recruit OFWs working temporarily outside the Philippines are encouraged to course their manpower requests through the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in the country where the OFWs are located. Many OFWs in the Middle East, particularly professionals, use their experience there as jump-off points for jobs in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Government statistics show that as of December 2007, there are 462,935 Filipinos in Canada, 410,626 of who are permanent residents, 49,309 temporary, and around 3,000 irregular.

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