Photo: Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Press “I have made it clear over the past year that the abuse and misuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program must stop,” said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault.
Sarah R. Champagne
Published at 2:27 p.m. Updated at 4:42 p.m.
- Canada
The federal government is considering refusing to process employers’ applications to hire low-wage temporary foreign workers, Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault said Tuesday in a meeting with representatives from major business associations across the country, and informed them of other potential restrictions to come.
Historically, these workers were mainly found in agriculture. However, their numbers have exploded in recent years and they are now found in many other fields, including manufacturing plants, food processing, fast food restaurants and the public health care system.
If implemented, this measure would prevent employers “from certain regions” and “certain sectors of activity” from using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), his office indicated in a press release, without specifying which ones. The positions concerned are those in the “low-wage” category, that is, those below the median hourly rate of $27.47 in Quebec.
“I have clearly indicated over the past year that the abuse and misuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program must stop,” Mr. Boissonnault also declared.
Following the sharp increase in requests to hire this type of workforce, the number of documented abuses – including by Le Devoir – has in fact increased.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“Stricter and more rigorous monitoring in high-risk areas” is already in place according to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Fines imposed on non-compliant employers totaled $2.1 million in 2023-2024, a jump of 36% compared to the previous year. However, several of these financial penalties remain unpaid, as indicated on the official website which lists these regulatory infractions.
“Bad actors are taking advantage of people and compromising the Program to the detriment of legitimate businesses”, added the minister.
Among other measures to reduce the use of these workers below the median wage, the minister is examining the possibility of requiring that a company have been in business for a minimum number of years or to be able to consult its layoff history. The fees for obtaining a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), the first step in recruiting abroad, could also increase, in order to finance more inspections and other “integrity” activities. However, he did not provide more details, beyond announcing these intentions.
A diverted program ?
Set up as a last resort, the TFWP has become in recent years a must-have to deal with the labour shortage, according to both employers and unions. It was designed as an “extraordinary measure to be used when a qualified Canadian is unable to fill a vacant position,” the communication released Tuesday morning also states.
However, more than 239,000 positions have been approved in 2023 across the country, double the number in 2018, according to information from ESDC. In Quebec, nearly 59,000 permits under this specific program came into effect last year. Of these, more than 20,000 positions were in the “low-wage” category according to our compilation.
Last March, Minister Boissonnault announced with his colleague at Immigration Marc Miller that a cap of 20% of temporary workers per workplace would apply to most sectors, except agriculture, health and construction. This threshold had been raised to 30% in Canada. In Quebec, it has also been uncapped for an increasingly long list of professions under “simplified treatment”, at the request of the government of François Legault.
Many of the announced tightenings will therefore have a limited effect in Quebec. Premier Legault has repeatedly stated his desire to “reduce the number of temporary workers,” but he has indicated that he mainly wants to target another temporary work program, the International Mobility Program, often used by foreign students after they graduate.
This is not the first time that this program has come under fire. A major reform was carried out in 2014, in order to put “an end to the increasingly widespread practice among employers of basing their management model on the use of the Program,” the federal government noted at the time.