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 Business News | March 2008 
Firm Helps Mexicans Get Jobs in Canada
 Gabriela Rico - Arizona Daily Star
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| Margaret, left, and Carmen Cid recently started Consultantes Canadienses LLC. They point out that the Canadian dollar is strong, the pay is good, and the nation faces a labor shortage. One drawback: the climate. (Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star)
Work in Canada
For more information about finding a job in Canada, contact:
Consultantes Canadienses LLC
2030 E. Broadway, Suite 3
Tucson, AZ 85719
(520) 628-4211 | | |
A new Tucson business, playing off the state's new employer-sanctions law, is linking Mexican workers here with high-paying jobs that Canadians aren't doing.
Canada's labor shortage has created a unique opportunity that a recently opened Tucson business is capitalizing on.
The mother-daughter operation, Consultantes Canadienses LLC (Canadian Consultants), specializes in connecting displaced Mexican workers with jobs in Canada.
"My country is going through a crisis," said Margaret Cid, a native of Toronto. "I have employers telling me, 'I just want someone who shows up.' "
So Margaret Cid and her mother, Carmen Cid, who are Canadian citizens and legal U.S. residents, created a step-by-step guide for how to apply for a job, obtain a visa and get settled in Canada.
After spending more than a year investigating the potential for such a business, Margaret Cid determined that connecting desperate employers with workers displaced by Arizona's employer-sanctions law would be a success.
"I told my mom, 'Let's give it a shot.' " she said.
Earlier this week, more than two dozen people crammed into a conference room to hear the presentation, which was conducted in Spanish by Carmen Cid.
"Now you can do the jobs that Canadians don't want to do," she said, prompting laughter from the crowd.
"Does anyone know the Canadian national anthem?" one man asked.
Another man, hoping to persuade his cold-weather-phobic friend to apply with him, said: "Don't worry. If we don't like it there, we can go to Montana."
Both declined to be interviewed.
Although many of those inquiring about relocating to Canada have been illegal workers in the United States, Margaret Cid also has been contacted by U.S. citizens who have lost their construction jobs because of the housing downturn.
Leaving Arizona for Canada
Since the business opened in early February, three clients have received job contracts, Margaret Cid said.
Phoenix landscaper Gerardo Rosas, 37, expects to be in his new home in Vancouver, British Columbia, by mid-April.
He said that within a week of sending out his résumé, he received four job offers and accepted a contract with a landscaper for 16 Canadian dollars an hour. (Right now that's $16.27 in U.S. money.)
Rosas, who plans to take his wife and two children with him, said the employer-sanctions law was the reason he began looking to relocate. In 2006, he netted $30,000, but in 2007 it was less than $3,000.
"People don't want to hire me because I'm undocumented," said the native of Mexico City, who has lived in Phoenix for nine years. The family has started selling off its belongings to raise money for airfare from Hermosillo, Sonora, to Vancouver.
As recommended by Margaret Cid, the family will return to Mexico and catch a direct flight to Canada to avoid any problems at U.S. airports.
"I'm a little scared and sad," Rosas said. "But why would I stay if there's another country that wants me?"
According to Canadian census reports, the country's aging population, coupled with slow growth, has left a labor void.
In 2006, the median age of the workforce surpassed the 40-year-old mark for the first time.
Already, more than 20 percent of workers in Canada are foreign-born, and government officials are pouring millions into programs for immigrants.
Between 12,000 and 15,000 workers are needed in the booming oil industry in Alberta, and in British Columbia — the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics — construction is two years behind schedule because of a worker shortage, Margaret Cid said.
The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Diane Finley, allocated $121.6 million Canadian over the next three years for immigrant-settlement and -integration services. Canada has spent or allocated more than $1.4 billion of its currency for such programs since 2006.
Efforts to get workers include a streamlined immigration program, especially for temporary workers, Margaret Cid said.
Illegal opportunities tempt, too
Consultantes Canadienses offers a four-part program that begins with a free seminar and overview conducted weekly at the central Tucson office, 2030 E. Broadway, Suite 3.
As the services become more personalized, the prices increase from $25 up to $150, which includes Margaret Cid meeting the worker in Canada to help obtain settlement services.
She said all of the information is available free from the Canadian Embassy, and some people can maneuver the process on their own, while others want to be checked and guided each step of the way.
"The opportunity is there as long as you know the steps," Margaret Cid said.
But many scams have been popping up, and people are losing thousands of dollars to people promising to secure job offers from Canada.
Under Canadian rules, employers wanting to hire foreigners must prove they are unable to find citizens to do the work. They can then apply for what's known as a "Labor Market Opinion" from the central government to seek workers from outside the country.
Depending on which country the immigrant is from, the process can take one to five months, which has led to some employers hiring illegal workers — something Margaret Cid warns against.
"There is a big opportunity; immigration is open," she tells clients. "Canada wants you to come. Don't repeat the mistakes you've made here."
In Canada, children of parents without proper immigration documents will not be allowed to enroll in school or in the national health program, and illegal workers can't open bank accounts.
In the short time it has been open, the Tucson business has received hundreds of calls and visitors from Phoenix to Nogales.
"People are tired of being here feeling like they're not wanted," Margaret Cid said. "They've put in so much and suffered so much, waiting for something to change."
Contact reporter Gabriela Rico at grico(at)azstarnet.com. |
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