Ottawa, Canada - Mexico wants to increase its foreign workforce in Canada, despite the Conservative government's new employment insurance (EI) rules that aim to fill vacant jobs with unemployed Canadians instead.

Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa touted the expansion of the temporary workers programs "to sectors other than agriculture" during her visit to Ottawa recently.

Canadian companies hire thousands of foreign workers each year to fill jobs that citizens here won't do. Seasonal workers from Mexico have provided labor to the Canadian agricultural sector since the mid-1970s.

Espinosa said she envisions expanding the program to the service and hospitality sectors, as well as construction. She brushed aside suggestions that Ottawa's proposed EI changes might make that more difficult for Mexico.

The government has recently announced changes to the EI system that could force unemployed Canadians to take lower-paying jobs outside their preferred occupations.

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley has said that bringing in temporary foreign workers is not acceptable, "especially when we have Canadians willing to work." The government plans to link the EI system to the temporary foreign workers program to ensure Canadians are aware of employers' needs.

It is not clear what the impact would be on the influx of foreign workers. But Espinosa, who came to Ottawa to meet Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, indicated she isn't worried about the changes.

"Whenever there is a difficult economic situation in a country and unemployment is rising, there is always the concern that any kind of temporary workers program will take away possible jobs for those people who are unemployed," she said.

"I think that experience shows that this is really not, in most of the cases, the real situation."

Espinosa noted that Canada and the US continue to have shortages of workers in certain sectors, regardless of domestic unemployment numbers.