Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that his government will reduce the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers with stricter rules, calling on employers to hire Canadian workers instead.
The federal government said it will refuse applications for low-wage temporary foreign workers in regions with an unemployment rate of six per cent or higher for most sectors.
It also announced that employers in most sectors will be limited to hiring a maximum of 10 per cent of their workforce from the temporary foreign worker program going forward, down from 20 per cent.
Workers hired through the low-wage stream will be able to work a maximum of one year, down from two years.
The changes to the temporary foreign worker program will come into effect on Sept. 26.
This announcement comes after a UN official in a final report doubled down on his criticism of Canada’s temporary foreign worker program as “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery,” earlier this month.
Demand for temporary foreign workers in Canada has surged in recent years. Employers were given the green light to hire almost 240,000 temporary foreign workers in 2023, according to data from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) — more than double the number in 2018.
The TFW program is intended as a “last resort for employers to fill jobs for which qualified Canadians are not available,” according to ESDC. But critics say jobs across all sectors — including agriculture, health care, food-service and construction — are increasingly being occupied by a precarious and vulnerable workforce simply to keep wages low.
As the program expands, so have the number allegations of abuse and fraud — to the point where earlier in August Canadian Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault declared that the “abuse and misuse of the TFW program must end,” and promised more stringent oversight to keep “bad actors” in check.
This is a developing story.
With files from The Canadian Press
