Alberta is looking to lure workers from the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) as part of a 2025 international recruitment mission, according to documents and emails shared with CBC News. It’s a move that’s raising concerns among labour leaders in the province.
In a Nov. 5 email, obtained by the federal NDP and shared with CBC News, an immigration partnerships advisor with Alberta Immigration and Multiculturalism outlined steps for participating employers interested in joining the mission, advising of two employer information sessions scheduled for later in the month.
A separate one-page document was shared with CBC News by Local 424 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents more than 4,000 electricians in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
It outlined the international talent mission, tentatively scheduled for the end of February or for early March 2025.
The document outlines the rationale of the mission:
- It’s an opportunity to ‘attract skilled workers who live temporarily in the U.A.E.’
- Alberta can access the ‘large pool of migrant workers in the U.A.E. who are extensively vetted before being able to work there, which can result in having high-quality interview candidates.’
- The fact that ‘there is a high level of English proficiency in the U.A.E.’
The Alberta government said it would support venue arrangements, promotion of job opportunities, interview logistics, informational workshops and travel recommendations for employers.
Local 424, which was organized 96 years ago, includes electricians who do construction maintenance. When it learned of the Alberta government’s plans to attract skilled workers, the union sought to learn more.
“We were a little bit confused why the government would be doing such a trip,” Scott Crichton, a spokesperson with the group, told CBC News.
“If there are issues related to meeting skilled labour demands, we want to be part of that conversation. We want to be involved with any consultation the government does … we have a lot of electricians ready to go to work.”
In late November, they reached out to Prairies Economic Development Canada, the federal department that promotes economic growth in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, sharing concerns about the mission.
A spokesperson with Prairies Economic Development Canada forwarded the concerns to the assistant deputy minister of the immigration division of Alberta Immigration and Multiculturalism.
“Scott, we would be pleased to discuss province’s plans and priorities. My office will reach out to you to find a mutually convenient time,” the assistant deputy minister wrote in a followup email to Crichton.
Crichton said the government told him it would meet with him to discuss on Dec. 5. However, he said the meeting was cancelled on Dec. 5 and rescheduled for Dec. 11.
Crichton added his concern was that the government would utilize the temporary foreign worker program, which allows for lower wages to be paid.
Meanwhile, the union’s concern is that if temporary foreign workers are allowed to work for lower wages, it could drive down wages in the construction industry as a whole.
“This will make it difficult to recruit younger workers into the trade in the future,” he said.
Premier’s office says it is unaware of plan
CBC News emailed the office of Premier Smith, as well as the Immigration and Multiculturalism ministry, requesting information on the mission.
They did not answer specific questions about what qualifications the government was looking for or whether the trip is part of a broader effort to attract workers from other parts of the world.
“The premier is not aware of any upcoming recruitment missions, however, we’ll look into the concerns,” wrote spokesperson Savannah Johannsen in a statement.
“Alberta has experienced unsustainable levels of immigration due to the federal government’s policies and we are advocating for more sustainable immigration policies.
“It is our belief that Ottawa’s priority should be on reducing the number of temporary foreign workers, international students and asylum seekers — not on reducing provincially selected economic migrants.”
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The news drew fire from two federal New Democrats — Timmins James Bay MP Charlie Angus and Edmonton Strathcona MP Heather McPherson.
“Bringing foreign workers to an economy suffering elevated levels of unemployment poses a serious threat of driving down wages,” the two wrote in a letter sent Dec. 2 to federal Minister of Employment Ginette Petitpas Taylor.
“Alberta is already suffering from the lowest minimum wage in the country. This would leave Alberta workers in an even more precarious situation.”
Statistics Canada’s October 2024 Labour Force Survey suggested that as of October, Alberta had the third highest unemployment of all Canadian provinces, behind Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Alberta minimum wage is $15 an hour, tied with Saskatchewan for the lowest in the country.
In November, Smith travelled to the U.A.E. and attended the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference.
“Deepening our relationship with the U.A.E. is critical to the long-term economic prosperity of Alberta,” reads a statement attributed to Smith from November, prior to her trip.
Alberta exported nearly $243 million in products to the U.A.E. in 2023, according to the province, mostly consisting of canola seeds, wheat, lentils, machinery and electronics. Alberta’s imports from the U.A.E. were $67.8 million in 2023.
In recent years, Alberta has promoted its relationship with the U.A.E., suggesting that opportunities are emerging for Alberta in onshore gas development and manufacturing.
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The Canadian Association of Energy Contractors predicts the highest level of drilling activity since 2015. Total jobs next year are expected to reach 41,800, about 2,720 more than 2024.
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Incentivizing hiring locals
In their letter, Angus and McPherson drew focus to September 2024 comments from Alberta’s Minister of Energy and Minerals Brian Jean.
“We are making it an advantage for people to fly from other provinces and other countries to come here and take our resources, to take our jobs, and actually take that money back to their hometown,” Jean said.
“That’s not reasonable. That’s not right. And, quite frankly, I find it disgusting.”
Jean was referring to the fly-in-fly-out model of work camps, which the minister said was hollowing out resource towns. It would be preferable, Jean said at the time, to incentivize oilsands companies to hire more locals.
“We are concerned that the UCP government finds it ‘disgusting’ that thousands of people from across Canada work in the oilpatch, while they are actively recruiting workers from a country with the abysmal human rights record of the U.A.E.,” the MPs wrote in their letter. “Such an effort is not in the national interest.”
The initiative also drew criticism from the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL). Its president, Gil McGowan, said the AFL has long-standing concerns tied to the temporary foreign worker program specifically.
“I think the record shows that too many employers view the program as a first choice for recruitment, rather than a last resort,” McGowan said.
“To see the Alberta government facilitating employers going overseas to find workers when there’s plenty of people who could fill these positions, it’s not just galling, it’s completely unacceptable.”
A spokesperson in Jean’s office said his comments were taken out of context.
“Minister Jean was talking about disincentivizing work camps, for many reasons, but to also ensure economic impacts of major oilsands projects remain in the community and the province. Our goal is to have people who work in Alberta energy, living and paying taxes in Alberta,” wrote Josh Aldrich in an email.
Changing sector
Heather Exner-Pirot, a senior fellow and director of natural resources, energy and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said what Jean was trying to emphasize was the importance of building up a Fort McMurray workforce.
“A Fort McMurray workforce, that helps rent houses, buys houses, builds up that regional economy … the oilsands are driving the Canadian economy, have contributed more than $100 billion in royalties and taxes to Canadians, and that community is suffering,” she said.
Given high unemployment and a low minimum wage in the province, Exner-Pirot said there’s a balance to consider when it comes to the jobs being discussed.
“It’s been showing in the data for years of young Canadians, people in colleges and universities interested in the oil and gas sector, and they’ve been told it’s a dying sector. They’ve been told to go into coding instead,” she said.
“The financial incentive is there. I guess it’s the status, it’s the working conditions … in that case, there is a skilled immigrant balance to be found to kind of curb that gap.”
Global oil and gas companies have, in recent years, posted historic profits, and Canada’s oil production reached a record high in 2024. But experts predict that era is set to come to an end.