Ottawa wants employers to demonstrate that they have effectively exhausted all options for finding workers locally, including the possibility of hiring asylum seekers with valid work permits, before turning to temporary foreign workers.
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on March 21 that the federal government is seeking to reduce the proportion of temporary residents in Canada’s population within the next three years.
Miller said temporary residents made up 6.2 per cent of Canada’s population in 2023 and the government is working to reduce that proportion to 5 per cent by 2027. That would mean a decrease of about 19 per cent of this segment of the population, he explained.
Reducing the number of temporary residents by 19 percent is not a record low, but it is something that needs to be done right, he said.”It’s a reasonable goal, I think it’s relatively ambitious, but it’s something we have to crystallize over the next three years,” Miller added.
Ottawa will for the first time include temporary residents in its annual immigration level plan, which is expected to be released next fall.Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will conduct a review of the government’s temporary work permit programs in an effort to better align with labor market needs, Miller said.
Federal Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault said that starting May 1, the Canadian government will begin reducing the number of temporary foreign workers that employers in certain sectors can hire.
Ottawa implemented temporary measures in April 2022 to allow employers in the accommodation and food services sector, among other sectors facing labor shortages, to hire up to 30 per cent of their workforce through the worker program temporary foreigners for low-wage positions.
Health care exceptions
Boissonnault said on March 21 that this limit will be reduced to 20 percent for most sectors. The exception will be the construction and healthcare sectors, which will continue to be able to hire up to 30 percent of their workers through that program.
On the other hand, seasonal economic activity industries, such as agriculture, fishing and tourism, are also exempt from this 20 percent reduction, but only during their peak seasons.
The government will also make changes to its Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application programme. Employers wishing to hire a foreign worker must do so through an LMIA application.Boissonnault also explained that the new LMIAs issued will only apply for six months, instead of the current time limit of one year.
All local options exhausted
Ottawa will also impose stricter requirements on employers to demonstrate that they have effectively exhausted all options to find workers in their locality, including the possibility of hiring asylum seekers with valid work permits.
The temporary foreign worker program is a program of last resort. We hope that
Ottawa wants employers to demonstrate that they have effectively exhausted all options for finding workers locally, including the possibility of hiring asylum seekers with valid work permits, before turning to temporary foreign workers.
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on March 21 that the federal government is seeking to reduce the proportion of temporary residents in Canada’s population within the next three years.
Miller said temporary residents made up 6.2 per cent of Canada’s population in 2023 and the government is working to reduce that proportion to 5 per cent by 2027. That would mean a decrease of about 19 per cent of this segment of the population, he explained.
Reducing the number of temporary residents by 19 percent is not a record low, but it is something that needs to be done right, he said.”It’s a reasonable goal, I think it’s relatively ambitious, but it’s something we have to crystallize over the next three years,” Miller added.
Ottawa will for the first time include temporary residents in its annual immigration level plan, which is expected to be released next fall.Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will conduct a review of the government’s temporary work permit programs in an effort to better align with labor market needs, Miller said.
Federal Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault said that starting May 1, the Canadian government will begin reducing the number of temporary foreign workers that employers in certain sectors can hire.
Ottawa implemented temporary measures in April 2022 to allow employers in the accommodation and food services sector, among other sectors facing labor shortages, to hire up to 30 per cent of their workforce through the worker program temporary foreigners for low-wage positions.
Health care exceptions
Boissonnault said on March 21 that this limit will be reduced to 20 percent for most sectors. The exception will be the construction and health care sectors, which will continue to be able to hire up to 30 percent of their workers through that program.
On the other hand, seasonal economic activity industries, such as agriculture, fishing and tourism, are also exempt from this 20 percent reduction, but only during their peak seasons.
The government will also make changes to its Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application programme. Employers wishing to hire a foreign worker must do so through an LMIA application.Boissonnault also explained that the new LMIAs issued will only apply for six months, instead of the current time limit of one year.
All local options exhausted
Ottawa will also impose stricter requirements on employers to demonstrate that they have effectively exhausted all options to find workers in their locality, including the possibility of hiring asylum seekers with valid work permits.
The temporary foreign worker program is a program of last resort. We hope that companies and business owners exhaust all options and work to prioritize workers who are here in Canada before requesting the arrival of temporary foreign workers.
The Canadian government announced a two-year limit on international student permits in January
Miller said setting a limit on the number of international students allowed to come to the country will contribute to the goal of reducing the number of temporary residents in Canada to 5 per cent.
“Now we are starting to have some control over the category of students, which is a very important part of that,” he said.Miller said he will convene his provincial and territorial counterparts to participate in a meeting in May to discuss the five per cent reduction target.
In December, Statistics Canada said the country’s population grew by more than 430,000 people during the third quarter of 2023, marking the fastest pace of population growth in any quarter since 1957.
That increase was driven by international migration, which included some 313,000 non-permanent residents who arrived in the country between July and September of last year.
According to Statistics Canada, these non-permanent residents were mostly people with temporary work and study permits and, to a lesser extent, asylum seekers.
owners exhaust all options and work to prioritize workers who are here in Canada before requesting the arrival of temporary foreign workers.
The Canadian government announced a two-year limit on international student permits in January
Miller said setting a limit on the number of international students allowed to come to the country will contribute to the goal of reducing the number of temporary residents in Canada to 5 per cent.
“Now we are starting to have some control over the category of students, which is a very important part of that,” he said.Miller said he will convene his provincial and territorial counterparts to participate in a meeting in May to discuss the five per cent reduction target.
In December, Statistics Canada said the country’s population grew by more than 430,000 people during the third quarter of 2023, marking the fastest pace of population growth in any quarter since 1957.
That increase was driven by international migration, which included some 313,000 non-permanent residents who arrived in the country between July and September of last year.
According to Statistics Canada, these non-permanent residents were mostly people with temporary work and study permits and, to a lesser extent, asylum seekers.
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