Canada is for the first time in recent years looking at bringing in "Contract" workers from around the world, including emerging nations. Taking front stage is how Canada will deal with the aspects of wages. One of the many areas for concern is that these workers will not be paid the same as those that are from Canada and given current Canadian Law this has the potential of becoming a "Union" Labour nightmare. Canada is looking to pre-entry agreements that are very clear as to wages, length of stay in country and a "NO" possibility of permanent Resident / Citizen Application. These are not meant to be discriminatory in any way. They are being created to respond to the realities of the world and good business sense. The proposed structure is based on offering salaries inline with home country salaries and a significant premium for working away from home. The same aspects that get many of us to take overseas contracts.
With respect to the living costs, this becomes a very involved issue as living costs in many of the area's that these workers are required, can be very similar to Doha. The obvious thing to do is provide for labour camps, the same as is being done here. In many cases in Canada these labour camps are already in use for Canadians. In the areas that they are not available you are left with the same decisions as you are faced with here, you either accept the job or don't. If you feel that a company is not offering enough to cover your costs then you simply don't take the job.
To add one last thought, if you have done your research properly and you are not being placed into a Labour Camp then you can make company provided housing, utilities, etc. a pre-condition to accepting any work here, as I did, and if they are not willing to accept this then don't take the job. When I negotiated for the position that I took I made several demands including being flown here prior to accepting the job, included housing, all vehicle costs and many other aspects to be provided. Initially the company said no, I said thank you and good luck on your employee search and went on my way. They came back and agreed to all conditions.
Ultimately it is up to the individual to do his research and negotiate the best deal that they can for themselves and live with what they accept.
Canada is for the first time in recent years looking at bringing in "Contract" workers from around the world, including emerging nations. Taking front stage is how Canada will deal with the aspects of wages. One of the many areas for concern is that these workers will not be paid the same as those that are from Canada and given current Canadian Law this has the potential of becoming a "Union" Labour nightmare. Canada is looking to pre-entry agreements that are very clear as to wages, length of stay in country and a "NO" possibility of permanent Resident / Citizen Application. These are not meant to be discriminatory in any way. They are being created to respond to the realities of the world and good business sense. The proposed structure is based on offering salaries inline with home country salaries and a significant premium for working away from home. The same aspects that get many of us to take overseas contracts.
With respect to the living costs, this becomes a very involved issue as living costs in many of the area's that these workers are required, can be very similar to Doha. The obvious thing to do is provide for labour camps, the same as is being done here. In many cases in Canada these labour camps are already in use for Canadians. In the areas that they are not available you are left with the same decisions as you are faced with here, you either accept the job or don't. If you feel that a company is not offering enough to cover your costs then you simply don't take the job.
To add one last thought, if you have done your research properly and you are not being placed into a Labour Camp then you can make company provided housing, utilities, etc. a pre-condition to accepting any work here, as I did, and if they are not willing to accept this then don't take the job. When I negotiated for the position that I took I made several demands including being flown here prior to accepting the job, included housing, all vehicle costs and many other aspects to be provided. Initially the company said no, I said thank you and good luck on your employee search and went on my way. They came back and agreed to all conditions.
Ultimately it is up to the individual to do his research and negotiate the best deal that they can for themselves and live with what they accept.