Foreign worker issues highlighted by AG

The auditor general says the government's temporary foreign worker program is not run efficiently or effectively.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser tabled a report with Parliament Tuesday, highlighting problems.

In particular, Fraser said there's no overall review to make sure job offers are genuine. As well, foreign workers can also be isolated because of language barriers, or geography.

"The problems we noted could leave temporary foreign workers in a vulnerable position and pose significant risks to the integrity of the immigration program as a whole," Fraser said.

Fraser was also critical of the government's decision in 2008 to change how immigration claims are processed.

Ottawa ended the requirement that every claim had to be processed to completion in order to deal with the huge backlog. It also created a shorter list of criteria for foreign workers to get moved to the front of the line.

But early analysis by the auditor shows that immigration may be unable to process new claims within the six to 12 months it promised.

As of December 2008, there were 620,000 federal skilled workers waiting to have their applications processed.

That number dropped by June of this year, but only because of a high refusal rate.