It's officially been one month since I put up "LMIAmap.ca", and what a crazy month it has been! The idea for the site had been rolling around the back of my head for a while after seeing multiple articles regarding massive increases in the use of the low-wage TFW stream over the past two years and I began learning more and more about the issues with the program. I had a week off and decided to use my extremely limited Power Bi knowledge to throw something together and put it on Reddit. I fully expected a few dozen upvotes, three comments and nothing more.
Instead, the response was beyond my wildest expectations. It quickly became the subject of two BlogTO articles and I was contacted by reporters from CBC for an interview (which I declined, as I would prefer to stay out of the public eye and I am hardly an expert on this subject). I had to remove the "CONTACT" button from the site as people believed it was a site for getting LMIAs and I was bombarded with emails asking for a job.
With the changes to the program announced last Sunday, part of me wants to believe the site may have influenced federal politics. But the more rational, less self-aggrandizing part of me knows that a UN report calling it a "breeding ground for contemporary slavery" which came out in mid-August probably has a lot more to do with it than my side projects. Still, it may have moved the needle just a little in the right direction, and that's pretty cool.
After the initial hubbub died down I tried to disconnect a little and haven't put much into the site since. As Canadians, we have to get out and enjoy summer while it lasts!
With all that out of the way, here's an update on the future of the site and some questions you may have:
Where did my money go?
All the money I've received has gone to support the site. So far, after fees I've received $350 from my BuyMeACoffee page. I've also spent ~$250 on an annual Squarespace subscription and the domains lmiamap.ca and lmiamap.com. That leaves me up $100, but I'll be using that money next year if I decide to keep the site up. That decision will be made based on the state of the TFW program at the time. Hopefully there will be massive changes, but I'm not holding my breath.
What's next for the site?
If they stick to their usual schedule, Q2 LMIA data should be available in about three weeks. At that point I'll add it to the site and make another post about it. I also have ideas for several improvements to the site. The filter buttons need work. The site needs an info screen on opening to specify that you're only looking at part of the country (I still get many confused questions about this) and the mobile compatibility is absolutely awful right now (I don't have a solution for this beyond completely remaking the map with different software that I've never used at an unknown cost). I'd also like to add a "stats" screen with some cool graphs to show changes over time, especially in the last five years. If you have something you'd like to see added you can message me on here or on Reddit. I make no promises as I have limited time and even more limited skills.
Thank you all for your support of the site. Enjoy the long weekend!