Alberta in Canada needs 10,000 OFWs, says DOLE

MANILA, Philippines — Canada’s western province of Alberta needs at least 10,000 Filipino workers, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said on Wednesday. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the requirement is mostly for highly skilled workers and professionals for its oil and gas industry as well as construction workers for its infrastructure projects. At the signing of the memorandum of agreement Wednesday at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel between DoLE, represented by Roque, and Alberta’s Ministry of Employment and Immigration headed by Hector Goudreau, the two have agreed to form a partnership and cooperation in the recruitment and deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that is needed to fill in the shortage of workers in the province. “Initially 10,000 Filipinos are need immediately for this recruitment program, but Alberta officials said they have a shortage of 30,000 workers for their oil and gas industry," Roque told reporters in an interview shortly after the signing of the agreement. Roque said he is looking at deploying about 30,000 to 40,000 OFWs every year to Alberta and three other Canadian provinces with which the Philippines has earlier forged an agreement — Manitoba, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan. Roque said that workers who qualify for work in Alberta will receive a monthly salary of 6,000 Canadian dollars (US$5,700) for the highly skilled welders, C$3,800 (US$3,600) for pipe fitters. He said the amount is higher than the salary offered for welders and pipe fitters deployed in Saudi Arabia, which ranges between US$300 to US$500. Aside from the recruitment of OFWs, Roque said Canadian employers are also finalizing the details on the setting up of trainings for the Filipinos to be deployed in Canada. “They are willing to invest in the Philippines for the continued training for the availability of the Filipino workers to upgrade their skills," Roque said. He said the implementing rules and regulations for the skills upgrade has been drafted and will be reviewed by both parties. “We have created a joint working committee that will review the IRR and in the next three months we hope to start the training," the Labor chief said. Initially, Roque said they are looking at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to implement the upgrade and training skills but it will also be implemented in selected schools that will be identified by the parties. Aside from the oil and gas workers, Alberta would also require workers for their food counters such as food attendants, food processors and butchers as well as nurses and care givers. - GMANews.TV