Ex-RBC employee says her Montreal job was outsourced

CBC has learnedpractices at Canada's largest bank thatsaw employees replaced with foreign workers extend to Montreal, where sources say at least 30 people have been laid off in the past year.

• RBC replaces Canadian staff with foreign workers

Former Montreal RBC employee Joanna Gnacinska said she was pulled into her supervisor's office inMarch 2012.

"My manager was already there, he basically told me my job was being outsourced to India and I would no longer have a job by the end of fall 2012," she said.

Gnacinska worked in RBC's mutual fund department as a customer service agent for four years.

'After they learned our tasks, they went back to India to train more people and as soon as they were trained... the jobs slowly started disappearing' Joanna Gnacinska, former Montreal RBC employee

She said she was routinely recognized for her work and she was more than willing to work overtime as well as weekends.

But last year, a group of temporary foreign workers were brought in for training, she said.

"After they learned our tasks, they went back to India to train more people and as soon as they were trained they were ready to take our jobs, and the jobs slowly started disappearing," Gnacinskasaid.

Shesaid she is only one of about 30 employees who went through the same processin the past year.

The foreign workers who are taking over are employed by a multinational outsourcing firm from India iGATE Corp. which has a contract with the bank to provide IT services.

It's against federal rules for any company to bring temporary foreign workers into Canada if it will put Canadians out of work.

But that's exactly the predicament Gnacinska finds herself in. She has been out of work since August.

"It makes me mad that I have to be on unemployment right now. I have to take money from the government. I used to pay taxes. I used to put money toward my future. I can't do that and that makes me very very mad."

RBC Montreal did not return CBCs request for an interview. But earlier this week,the head of RBC denied the bank was replacing Canadian workers with temporary foreign workers, saying that the bank is providing jobs for anyone impacted by the move.

Theimmigration minister's office has confirmed that an investigation is currently underway to review the iGate contract based on apparent discrepancies between RBC's public statement and information which has previously been provided to the government.