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Canadian helicopter pilots say they’re being denied jobs in favour of cheaper temporary foreign workers.

“The saddest and most outrageous part is that this will slowly kill the industry,” Bill Wadsworth, a helicopter pilot in Mayne Island, B.C., with 25 years’ experience, said in an interview Wednesday.

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Mr. Wadsworth said he recently applied for several jobs at B.C. companies that he learned had subsequently sought temporary foreign workers. In each case, he was told there were no openings.

He also said he frequently sees job postings for pilots that offer hourly rates well below the industry standard, a practice he said drives down wages.

“They’re leveraging the foreign workers against the Canadian pilots, essentially threatening Canadians by saying: ‘We’re paying these guys so little and we’re only going to pay you 10 dollars an hour more. So you either go with the flow here or we’re hiring TFWs and you’re out of work.”‘