Posted on 10/01/2025 5:10:47 AM PDT by jerod
IRCC says onus is on applicants to make sure their work permits are complete
A construction company in Dartmouth is desperate to find help for three employees from the Philippines who may have to leave Canada because of a mistake in their applications to renew work permits.
In two cases, Brycon Construction forgot to pay a $230 employer fee as part of the application. In the third, it neglected to submit a labour market impact assessment.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) rejected the renewals and told the men they had to stop working immediately, leaving them with the option to either restart their entire application from scratch or depart the country in 90 days.
"I thought, 'oh my God, is this really happening?'" said Dave Hiscock, the operations manager at Brycon Construction. He said he can't understand why the department didn't flag that a small detail of the application was missing.
"It's an awful penalty for whether a fee wasn't paid or a piece of paper wasn't put in. You're uprooting three-plus lives," said Hiscock.
"These people have done nothing wrong while they've been in Canada. They've paid their taxes. They're good working staff."
In a statement, IRCC told CBC that the onus is on the workers to make sure their applications are complete. If they believe there was an error made in the decision, they can appeal. Otherwise, they have to reapply.
On average, it takes about 180 days, or six months, to consider a new application. During that time, the men cannot work and their provincial health card is made invalid.
Brycon Construction just began work on the Highway 103 twinning project between Hubbards and Chester on the province's South Shore.
The men — Jafferson Palabasan, Raddy Adams Manicadao and Rene Logrinio — are vital to the project, said Hiscock, who called his local member of Parliament but was told nothing could be done to expedite the process.
The rejections came as a shock for the three men, who arrived at the same time in 2022. All have applied to become permanent residents, hoping to stay here and bring their families to Halifax. Now, they don't know how they'll afford food.
"It's a dream city to me. It's a better future to my daughter," said Palabasan, who has been waiting for approval to move his wife and six-year-old daughter out of the Philippines.
"Seeing them struggling, it's doubling the hardship I'm experiencing now."
Logrinio sends money home to support his wife and three daughters. He doesn't know if he can afford to wait out the new six-month process.
"Without a job or income, I cannot survive here," he said.
Adams Manicadao said his savings are almost gone and he can no longer pay for his wife's insulin to manage her diabetes.
The situation is becoming more and more common, said Elizabeth Wozniak, an immigration lawyer based in Halifax.
She said years ago, immigration officers could use their discretion to flag a missing piece of an application that could be fixed within minutes. Now, she said, the work permits are rejected outright.
"When it doesn't work, it goes really, really badly really fast, and the consequences are huge," she said. "It's a bit of a minefield when you're applying for extension applications."
In the meantime, it's next to impossible for Brycon to hire local staff or contract out the work, Hiscock said. When he books six job interviews, he's lucky if one applicant shows up, he said.
"There's a lot of days of pulling hair and wondering where are we going to find people to get the work done," he said.
Brycon now employs 18 international workers among a staff of 120. All of them are hoping to stay with the company long term and become permanent residents in Canada, Hiscock said.
The operations manager said he's learned a terrible lesson, and is advising other companies to learn from the mistake...
Filipino's are some of the best workers in this world... They do a lot of good and they contribute to society and they are some of the best immigrants in this world... But you still need to fill out the paper work properly.
Meanwhile, Wexit is in process of leaving the fiasco that is Euro wanna be Canada
This is one of the biggest nothing burger stories of the year
“This is one of the biggest nothing burger stories of the year”
Except this story illustrates that Canada takes its laws seriously when it comes to foreigners working in that country. If you don’t get permission to work in Canada and do it right - that’s it.
They are not the “anything goes” society some want to paint.
You mean, gasp, it’s not just the US that enforces their laws?
Here’s a novel idea…the construction company could hire Canadians. I know that’s a pretty radical idea but it just might work.
It would appear that the 3 men are being treated like real Canadians.
>>>This is one of the biggest nothing burger stories of the year.
Some consider CBC the biggest bun over burger. It’s tax payer funded.
The "I forgot" and "I neglected to" explanations fall TOTALLY flat for me, as does so much editorial messaging from the CBC.
True enough... They’re a road construction company... Pay your workers accordingly and they will work for you. The average construction worker in Nova Scotia earns $19.65 and if you want good ones to work for you... It’s likely higher.
They are probably paying these Filipino’s $16.50 per hour... The minimum wage in Nova Scotia... Sounds high... But that’s $11.88 per hour in American dollars. Then their employer is likely charging them or for room and board... Meaning that instead of paying a Canadian worker the full minimum wage... They get the immigrant worker for a much cheaper price... Since they are recouping part of those wages through expenses charged to the immigrant.
Canada is a socialist nightmare.
White people need jobs too. There is no need to import humans. White people are great workers too if treated well and paid fairly.
So screw you and your immigration virtue signaling hiring your racism.
I was on a temp work visa to work at hydro-Quebec and when I went through customs I was treated like a criminal. I’ll never forget the fees that no one told me about.
Yup—Canada’s bureaucracy is legendary.
They grind people to dust—and of course very slowly to make it as painful as possible.
My experience and reaction, as well.
Anyone with a DUI or DWI or DWAI conviction ever in their lives cannot enter Canada now: an American with a single DUI can now be denied entry at the Canadian border even if the incident happened more than ten years ago. https://www.canadaduientrylaw.com/
Elbows OOPS!
Not until they freeze their bank accounts and push assisted suicide on them.
Canada only takes it seriously for people entering the country legally.
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