By Farahnaz Bandali
In the Calgary Herald

Sept. 30, 2014


 

Internationally, the arts and entertainment community has always thrived on a culture of open exchange of talent.  But local arts and entertainment programming has been put at risk by recent reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) that create red tape and drive up the cost.

Small arts and entertainment organizations are overwhelmed by having to jump through legal hoops and shell out $1,000 each time they need to bring in international talent.

The government allows foreign performing artists on “time-limited engagements” to bypass the lengthy and complicated TFW process.  While comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who performed four shows in Calgary over two days, may be exempt from the paperwork and fees, it is impossible to tell from the government’s guidelines whether a foreign actor in Canada for six weeks of rehearsals and performances is also exempt.

How did the government decide who’s exempt and who’s not?  Unfortunately, behind-the-scenes artists and production crew do not enjoy exemptions, even though they are critical to any production. While the guidelines clearly state that a guest conductor can enter the country relatively easily to work, in one recent example, a musical company was forced to apply three times and consult an immigration lawyer before it got the go-ahead to bring in a behind-the-scenes director from Europe for a few weeks. Similarly, when the Alberta Ballet wanted to bring in a set builder on a short-term contract, they were subject to the same application process as a multi-national employer seeking to fill a longer-term position.

There is confusion across the country about why some TFWs are exempt and others aren’t. Fashion models entering Canada on short-term contracts, for example, are subject to the TFWP application process, unlike performing artists. Not surprisingly, delays created by the additional paperwork are causing companies to take their photo-shoots elsewhere.  When deciding between a Canadian location and a foreign model, companies have told the media that they would rather risk losing the venue than the model.  As a result, dozens of Canadians who could be employed on a photo-shoot are losing work, too.

The federal government says it put these restrictions in place to ensure Canadians were first in line for jobs. And, indeed, there have been reports of Canadian workers displaced by lower-paid TFWs in some service-sector jobs. Ironically, the rules have had the opposite effect in the arts and entertainment industry, where the regulations erode the industry’s capacity to bring in world class artists and employ Canadians.

To cover the full cost of administering the program, the government introduced a fee for applying to bring in a TFW. It was set at $275, and then raised to $1,000. This is an onerous cost for a small arts organization, which must pay as much for a few days’ or weeks’ work as a multi-national company pays for a worker coming to Canada for a year or more.  Should such different circumstances cost the same amount to administer?

Controls are required and costs are inevitable, but they should be proportional to the national interest.  Providing more exemptions, fast-tracking applications and reducing the paperwork would be a huge relief for smaller organizations with limited resources. It makes sense to waive the application process when the actual duration of the work is short and reduce the application fee where the potential loss to the economy and Canadian cultural scene is greater than the $1,000 cost.

If the fee cannot be waived altogether, a sliding scale fee structure could ease the financial barrier for those wishing to employ a truly temporary, temporary foreign worker. For example, when a foreign worker is needed for less than six months, the fee could be $250, or when the worker is to be hired for six months to a year, a $500 fee could be charged.

If the arts and entertainment community can’t attract the best international talent because of rigid TFWP rules, it’s Canada’s cultural scene that loses.

The changes were made in June to fix some big problems with the existing TFWP. The government has been clear it will not make further changes until after the next election. The arts and entertainment community can’t wait that long.  Let’s loosen these inflexible rules before they do permanent harm.

Farahnaz Bandali is Senior Policy Analyst with the Centre for Human Capital Policy at the Canada West Foundation, which focuses on policies that shape the quality of life in western Canada.