Ottawa: Employment Minister Randy Boissonault plans to announce that the government may deny applications for temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in low-wage jobs. This applies to jobs paying below the median hourly wage in each province, which ranges from $24 to $39.24.
Boissonault emphasized that the government aims to end abuse and misuse of the TFW program to ensure workers’ safety. In the 2023-24 fiscal year, over $2 million in fines were issued, a 36% increase from the previous year. Concerns have been raised about fraudulent labour market impact assessments (LMIAs), which employers use to prove they couldn’t find a qualified Canadian worker.
To address these issues, the government is considering stricter oversight, higher LMIA application fees, and consistent application of the 20% cap policy for TFWs. The number of approved TFW applications has significantly increased, with over 239,000 approvals last year compared to 109,000 in 2018. Agriculture remains the top sector using TFWs, but other industries like nursing and construction have also seen increases.