“It was about June 25th, we reopened the program for more applications, and we received 160 applications in just a few hours.”

Schnell said Alberta has 180,000 temporary residents in the province, with over 1,000 in Medicine Hat.

“We’re finding there’s a huge workforce of non-permanent residents who are looking to stay in Canada, and we have a lot of employers who value those staff, and they want them to stay permanently,” Schnell said.

“I would say over 50 per cent of the time, we’re looking at applications from temporary workers who already have a job, they’re already working in one of our communities,” he added.

“Whereas about 40 percent of the time, we’re looking at a job vacancy and trying to find, can we fill that job vacancy from maybe someone outside of Medicine Hat, in Alberta, or maybe from Ontario, or British Columbia, or possibly outside of Canada.”

Schnell adds there are a variety of pathways that lead foreign workers to Medicine Hat.

“International students who complete their program, say at Medicine Hat College, they’re given open work permits, but those are only valid for two years. So they’re in that pursuit of permanence, right,” Schnell said.

“Other employers have brought in temporary workers, maybe through Labour Market Impact Assessment programs or agriculture programs, and they too are looking for a way to become permanent.”

Schnell notes this isn’t a way for businesses to get cheap employees.

“One of the things we’re proud of in this area is we insist that a living wage of $17.35 be paid. So we don’t entertain any positions, no matter what skill level, under $17.35,” Schnell said.

“For the higher skilled positions, they have to pay the median average wage for this region, as set by the government.”

The workers are coming from a variety of industries, largely food services, hotel and accommodations, but also manufacturing, healthcare and construction sectors.

Schnell notes the program will continue to be open as long as the province keeps it running.

“Employers can visit our website, saimmigration.ca. They can apply by submitting an application to participate. We have a consultation with every employer who signs up, and we interview every candidate who is considered for endorsement,” Schnell said.

“It’s employer-driven. Candidates looking to participate have to have a full-time, permanent, non-seasonal job offer with an eligible employer. Employers looking to participate have to have either a full-time staff who they want to support, or at least a full-time position that they need to fill,” he added.

“It’s driven by the availability of full-time, permanent positions, of which we’re seeing there is a large demand.”