GIVEN current labour market conditions, and to further reduce the reliance of Canadian employers on the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, Randy Boissonnault, federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, announced on Monday that the government is taking further action to weed out TFW Program misuse and fraud.

Boissonnault said: “The Temporary Foreign Worker program was designed to address labour market shortages when qualified Canadians were not able to fill those roles. Right now, we know that there are more Canadians qualified to fill open positions. The changes we are making today will prioritize Canadians workers and ensures Canadians can trust the program is meeting the needs of our economy.”

In response to the current employment environment, the following changes will be implemented, effective by September 26:

• The Government of Canada will refuse to process Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) in the Low-Wage stream, applicable in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher. Exceptions will be granted for seasonal and non-seasonal jobs in food security sectors (primary agriculture, food processing and fish processing), as well as construction and healthcare;
• Employers will be allowed to hire no more than 10% of their total workforce through the TFW Program. This maximum employment percentage will be applied to the Low-Wage stream and is a further reduction from the March 2024 reduction. Exceptions will be granted for seasonal and non-seasonal jobs in food security sectors (primary agriculture, food processing and fish processing), as well as healthcare/caregiving and construction; and
• The maximum duration of employment for workers hired through the Low-Wage stream will be reduced to one year (from two years).

The government says that employers in Canada have a responsibility to invest in the full range of workers available in this country, such as young people, newcomers, and persons with disabilities, who are too often an untapped economic resource in Canada. They must also invest in retraining or upskilling to ensure that those they currently employ can adapt to the economy of the future. The government will continue to work with business and organizations to help them find the workers they need and ensure that Canadian workers have the opportunities they deserve, by providing supports for training and education.

The government will continue to monitor labour market conditions and introduce further adjustments to the program as needed in the coming months to ensure that only employers with demonstrable labour market needs have access to the program.

Within the next 90 days, further review will be undertaken of the Program, which could result in changes to the High-Wage Stream, to existing LMIA applications for which positions have not been filled, to sectoral exceptions, or refusing to process other LMIA applications, including for rural areas.

Quick Facts

• According to the latest data from the Labour Force Survey, the overall unemployment rate has increased to 6.4% following two consecutive monthly increases in May and June. Canada’s unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 6.4% in June 2024. The unemployment rate trended up since April 2023, rising 1.3 percentage points over the period. In June, there were 1.4 million unemployed people, an increase of 42,000 (+3.1%) from the previous month.
• As the labour market has loosened, the Government of Canada began rolling back the pandemic measures aimed at addressing an extraordinary labour shortage. Beginning in October 2023, those adjustments have included gradual reductions to the validity period of Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) from 18 months to 6 months, as well as to the cap on percentage of temporary foreign workers from 30% to 20%, both necessary steps toward bringing the program back to pre-pandemic levels.
• On August 20, the Government of Canada announced the approval of a proposal by the Government of Quebec for a temporary freeze on the approval of new Temporary Foreign Workers in the low-wage stream in Montreal. Effective September 3, processing of Labour Market Impact Assessment applications will be discontinued for six months for job offers located in the Montreal region with wages below $27.47/hour, which is the current Quebec median hourly wage.