- Manan Gupta
- 2024/10/22
Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program is designed as an extraordinary measure to be used when a qualified Canadian is not able to fill a job vacancy.
In recent months, the Government of Canada has taken steps to strengthen the integrity of the TFW Program, and on August 26, 2024, committed to completing further reviews over the following 90 days to ensure that the TFW Program remains responsive to labour market needs, while also helping to protect temporary foreign workers from fraud and abuse.
On October 21st, 2024 Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, has announced targeted reforms to one of the TFW Program streams. Effective November 8, 2024, the starting hourly wage for workers coming into Canada through the high-wage stream will be increased to 20% higher than its current level, which is the median wage in the applicable province or territory of work. This represents an increase to the existing threshold of between $5 and $8 per hour, depending on the province or territory of work.
As a result, a greater number of jobs are expected to be subject to the stricter rules of the low-wage stream, including additional employer requirements related to housing, transportation and recruitment of workers already in Canada.
This reform is also designed to prioritize the hiring of domestic workers, in keeping with the TFW Program’s goal of protecting Canada’s economy and Canadian workers. As noted by Minister Boissonnault in a speech at the 21st Century Workforce Summit on October 17, 2024, Canadian employers have access to untapped pools of talent in Canada, including youth, among whom the unemployment rate is more than double the annual average. Similar circumstances also exist for other under-represented groups, including Indigenous persons, women and persons with disabilities.
Minister Boissonnault also announced that, starting on October 28, 2024, employers will no longer be able to use attestations from professional accountants or lawyers to prove their business legitimacy. He added that the TFW Program will further build on existing information sharing agreements with provincial and territorial partners, as well as existing employer registries, to enhance data sharing. These measures will help to ensure that only genuine and legitimate job offers are approved, helping prevent misuse of the program and ensuring stronger worker protection.
While the majority of employers use the TFW Program as intended, the Government of Canada is continuing to carefully monitor for misuse and fraud, as well as for shifts in labour market conditions. Further adjustments will be made, if needed, to help ensure that only compliant employers with demonstrable labour needs can access the TFW Program.
Quick facts
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The Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) remains an important tool that helps protect the Canadian labour market from possible negative impacts of hiring temporary foreign workers, such as wage suppression or displacement of Canadian workers. Employers must apply for an LMIA and receive a positive assessment before they can seek to hire temporary foreign workers.
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The low-wage stream and high-wage stream are two components of the TFW Program, differentiated by the wage level offered. There are key differences between the streams:
- The low-wage stream is for jobs where the wage offered is below the provincial or territorial median hourly wage. Under this stream:
- employers must provide supports for workers that include return transportation to their country of origin and ensuring or providing suitable accommodation;
- employers must conduct at least two additional methods of recruitment that are consistent with the occupation (targets an audience that has the appropriate education, professional experience and or skill level required for the occupation);
- employers are limited to a temporary foreign worker complement of 10% of their workforce at any worksite (up to 20% for certain high-demand sectors); and
- the TFW Program will not process LMIA applications for positions in Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) where the unemployment rate is 6% or higher.
- The high-wage stream is for jobs where the wage offered is above the provincial or territorial median hourly wage plus 20%. Under this stream:
- there is currently no limit on the number of workers an employer can hire; and
- CMA unemployment rates are not taken into consideration in LMIA application assessments.
- The low-wage stream is for jobs where the wage offered is below the provincial or territorial median hourly wage. Under this stream:
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The changes announced today are forecasted to result in 34,000 positions moving from the high-wage stream to the more stringent rules of the low-wage stream. This shift could result in as many as 20,000 fewer positions being approved through the TFW Program when combined with other policies in effect as of September 26, 2024, including the following:
- the Government of Canada does not process LMIAs in the low-wage stream in CMAs with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher (with some exceptions for high-demand sectors); and
- employers may hire no more than 10% of their total workforce through the TFW Program (with some exceptions for high-demand sectors).
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As part of the LMIA, all job offers made by employers must be assessed to ensure that both the business and the job offer are genuine and legitimate. Applicants must provide supporting documents, as detailed on this web page: Business legitimacy - Canada.ca.
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The Government of Canada is striving to ensure better representation of under-represented groups in the Canadian labour market. Examples of challenges facing these groups include the following:
- In September 2024, the youth unemployment rate was 13.5%, compared to the national average of 6.5%.
- Indigenous people at all education levels had higher unemployment rates in 2023 (7.7%) than the non-Indigenous population aged 25 to 54 (4.5%).
- In 2022, the employment rate among those aged 16 to 64 with disabilities (65.1%) was 15 percentage points lower than the rate for those without disabilities (80.1%).
Manan Gupta is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC - IRB) and the CEO of Skylake Immigration. He is a licensee in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) and a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants (CAPIC). He frequently gets quoted and appears as a media commentator on CBC News/Radio, Prime Asia TV, 101.3 FM radio, Global News, Omni TV, Truck News and others to discuss matters related to Canadian immigration, public safety, transportation amongst others.
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