Employers will soon face stiffer requirements when hiring foreign nationals for temporary jobs in Canada. Temporary foreign workers help keep Canada competitive by filling short-term labour and skills gaps, and can help foreign nationals gain practical experience in Canada.

Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, announced that some time-limited measures under the Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Program Workforce Solutions Road Map will not be renewed and will end, earlier than planned, this spring.

Employers in Canada must first obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to demonstrate that no Canadian labour is available to perform the same job. Effective May 1, 2024, new Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) will be valid for six months (a decrease from 12 months) to ensure accurate labour market needs.

All employers identified in the 2022 Workforce Solutions Road Map will have a reduction from 30% to 20% of their total workforce that can come in through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, under the low wage stream, with an exception for the construction and health care sectors.

Effectively from May 1, 2024, LMIAs will be valid for 6 months, giving foreign nationals less time to apply for a work permit. Also, the cap for low-wage temporary foreign workers hired by employers in specific sectors will be reduced from 30% to 20%.

Employers will need to explore every option before applying for an LMIA — including recruiting asylum seekers with valid work permits here in Canada.

As of January 1, 2024, employers are required to annually review the wages of temporary foreign workers to ensure they reflect increases to prevailing wage rates for their given occupation and region of work. Through wage increases, these reviews will ensure that employers continue to pay temporary foreign workers at the prevailing wage level throughout their period of employment. For the vast majority of cases, when wages are reviewed, they are increased for the workers. If not, they remain the same and cannot go down upon review.

The Government of Canada will continue to monitor labour market conditions to ensure that the TFW Program reflects current economic needs, and that Canadians are considered first for job opportunities, while also ensuring that the rights of temporary foreign workers in Canada are protected.

These measures aim to reduce Canada’s reliance on temporary foreign workers and help employers fill job vacancies by supporting Canadian workers. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is designed to be responsive to changes in the labour market. It helps Canadian employers fill labour and skills shortages temporarily when Canadians and permanent residents are not available.

The TFWP is demand-driven with no limits or caps on the total number of work permits that may be requested or issued in a given year. The TFWP is co-administered by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and IRCC, and aims to fill temporary skill shortages.

The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program experienced a surge in demand due to the post-pandemic economy, low unemployment rates, and record-high job vacancy rates in 2022. To address those labour shortages, the Program adopted a series of policy changes.

With changing labour market conditions and declining job vacancies, the Government is adjusting the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to ensure the program continues to only be used in cases where there are no workers in Canada that can fill the necessary role.