The federal government is extending the period of time a business can employ a low-wage temporary foreign worker.
The change will lengthen the maximum duration of a low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessment — the document an employer needs in order to employ a temporary foreign worker — to two years instead of one.
The government said restrictions on hiring temporary foreign workers in cities with unemployment rates above six per cent will remain in place. But Ottawa is adding early childhood educators to the list of professions exempted from those restrictions, which already includes certain jobs in health care, construction and food processing.
Ottawa is also proposing a series of additional measures for low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessment applications that are set to take effect on March 1, 2027. The provinces and territories would need to opt in to the changes in order for them to take effect.
These proposed measures include one that would allow the provinces and territories themselves to add or remove occupations from the list of jobs exempt from the six per cent rule.
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The federal government is also proposing that provinces and territories have the power to allow employers to expand the share of their workforces made up of low-wage temporary foreign workers to 15 per cent — up from the current limit of 10 per cent.
Immigration Minister Lena Diab said Monday the government intends to work more closely with the provinces and territories on tailoring the temporary worker program to regional needs.
“I have heard also loud and clear from many people across the country, no matter who they are, that there is a need for that program,” Diab told a news conference in Stellarton, N.S.
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Diab said while temporary workers’ share of the workforce might rise in some fields, the government maintains all jobs should be made available to Canadians first.
“But we do recognize that we also need the skilled trades and the skilled people that have different skills than what we have in Canada, but also there are regions in the country that do not have the Canadians applying,” Diab said.
“The percentages that you raise will be up to the provinces and territories to say yes or no. This is again working in partnership with the provinces in territories who will decide whether that is the right thing to do for their provinces, and if so, where in the regions.”
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Diab was in Stellarton to announce that the Rural Community Immigration Pilot is being made into a permanent government program and a permanent residency pathway.
This program involved more than 1,950 vetted employers in 14 rural communities that faced labour shortages and couldn’t fill jobs solely with local workers. The government helped those employers connect with skilled foreign workers who would then be put on a path to permanent residency.
About 5,500 permanent residency slots are assigned to this program in the latest immigration levels plan and the government says it plans to open the program up to more communities in the future.
The government alluded to temporary foreign worker program reforms in Thursday’s budget. Government officials who briefed reporters on background Thursday said they did not have detailed information about the planned reforms — which were published the next day.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Friday that the temporary foreign worker program should not be an option in communities where the unemployment rate is above 5.5. per cent.
The national unemployment rate was 6.7 per cent in October, according to Statistics Canada. The unemployment rate has fluctuated month-to-month between around 6.5 per cent and seven per cent for the last two years.
