Many regulated professions, including trades, written into deal’s fine print.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement has significant implications for the movement of workers to and from Canada, with experts predicting it will open the Canadian labour market to a new wave of foreign workers.
That influx may or may not be offset by increased opportunities for Canadian workers to move abroad, the experts say.
“I think it’s very facilitative [of workers coming here] for better or for worse,” said Ryan Rosenberg, a Vancouver immigration lawyer.
“It reduces barriers significantly to a wider scope of nations” than previous trade agreements, he said.
No need to prove a Canadian unavailable for jobs
Rosenberg said he was surprised by the number of skilled occupations included in the agreement that won’t require employers to perform labour market assessments to prove no Canadians are eligible for the jobs.
“It’s incredible how many skilled trades that are typically unionized positions are opened up to work permits [without labour market assessments],” he said.
The deal divides occupations into regulated and non-regulated professions. The regulated professions it lists include white-collar jobs in health care, engineering and the legal system, but also several skilled trades such as construction workers, plumbers and electricians.
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