Despite the federal government walking back the amount of temporary foreign workers it will admit into certain regions, Canada could still potentially break record numbers this year.
After admitting more than one million temporary foreign workers into Canada, the Trudeau government now plans to crack down on the program by accepting fewer people.
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault announced the new restrictions on hiring temporary foreign workers in markets with high unemployment rates during the Liberals’ cabinet retreat this week.
Low-wage temporary foreign worker positions have skyrocketed in recent years, up 291% this year, compared to 2018, with the data currently available indicating that Canada is on track to wildly surpass last year’s record.
According to the latest government data, Canada has already seen 28,730 low-wage temporary foreign worker positions in the first quarter of 2024, or 34% of last year’s total volume.
In the first three months of this year, the country created more low-wage roles than all of 2018.
“In the aftermath of the pandemic and facing severe labour shortages, we adjusted the program for temporary foreign workers. That’s what the business community needed, that’s what the business community was asking for and at that moment in time, those changes helped,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Monday.
Canada has been facing increasing unemployment in recent years as the country experiences an exponential growth in newcomers, with annual volumes up 300% over the past five years.
The first quarter of 2023 alone has seen the government process more temporary foreign workers than the annual total of 2018.
Changes to the TFW program are coming at the end of next month, when Ottawa will freeze the applications for census metropolitan areas that have an unemployment rate of 6% or higher and sponsoring companies will be limited to a staff of 10% or fewer temporary foreign workers.
Additionally, approved applications will be reduced from two years to one.
“The Temporary Foreign Worker program was designed to address labour market shortages when qualified Canadians were not able to fill those roles,” said Boissonault in a statement on Monday.
“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.”
The announcement comes on the heels of the Quebec government implementing its own restrictions last week in an effort to lead by example, freezing the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers in Montreal.
Premier Legault said the freeze was in response to the influx of migrants that the province has received over the past two years, increasing from 300,000 to 600,000 since 2022, a figure which he said has “clearly surpassed its capacity of integration.”