Field Research Case: Abc Irrigation

Field Research Case: ABC Irrigation

INTB 311

Patti Callaghan

Disclosure: The names of all individuals and company names have been altered at the request of the interviewees.

Introduction and Description of the Organization

ABC Irrigation is an established residential, commercial and industrial irrigation contracting company in Alberta. Born in Edmonton, John Smith established ABC Irrigation in 1978 to meet the demand of the ever growing irrigation market in Alberta. It has a stronghold in Edmonton and in the past 10 years has expanded to Southern Alberta and sections of British Columbia. Over the years ABC Irrigation has grown to employ over 50 employees and with seasonal work utilizing substantially more labor resources they have to turned to the temporary foreign worker program. In in 2005 they signed on as a major provider of services to a series of international race events, thus requiring even more seasonal workers. For the purposes of this paper I am going to examine the organization in relation to its policy of hiring temporary foreign workers; specifically, I am going to examine the impact cultural differences have on the organization in relation to the organization’s largest group of ethnic temporary foreign workers- people from Mexico.

Description of the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program

The Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program is a federal program put in place for employers interested in hiring workers from abroad to work at their establishments. Every year 150,000 foreign workers enter Canada to temporarily fill in gaps in the labour market. In Alberta there are approximately 30,800 temporary foreign workers. (http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca) Employers must first promote and advertise any job opportunities to Canadians and only if there are still vacancies, they may apply to program and start the process of employing a foreign worker. For a foreign worker to enter the program, they...