By John Ikani
The Canadian government has announced plans to reduce the intake of foreign workers starting September 26, 2024.
In a tweet on Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that the country will cut back on Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) visas.
“We’re reducing the number of low-wage, temporary foreign workers in Canada. The labour market has changed. Now is the time for our businesses to invest in Canadian workers and youth,” he said.
The ministry of employment echoed this sentiment, noting that the TFW program was intended to be a stopgap when qualified Canadians and permanent residents were unavailable to fill job openings.
“Unfortunately, the TFW Program has been used to circumvent hiring talented workers in Canada,” the ESDC said.
Under the new regulations, companies will be restricted to hiring no more than 10 percent of their entire workforce through the TFW program.
There will be exemptions for seasonal and non-seasonal jobs in key sectors like food security (primary agriculture, food processing, and fish processing), healthcare, and construction.
Additionally, the maximum duration of employment for low-wage TFW workers will be cut from two years to one year.
“Employers in Canada have a responsibility to invest in the full range of workers available in this country, such as young people, newcomers, and persons with disabilities, who are too often an untapped economic resource in Canada,” the statement said.
“They must also invest in retraining or upskilling to ensure that those they currently employ can adapt to the economy of the future.”
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault emphasized that these changes will put Canadian workers first and assure that the TFW program serves the country’s economic needs.
“The Temporary Foreign Worker program was designed to address labour market shortages when qualified Canadians were not able to fill those roles. Right now, we know that there are more Canadians qualified to fill open positions,” the ESDC quoted Boissonnault as saying.
These changes are set to take effect on September 26.
Many of those migrating to Canada for work and study come from countries like Nigeria, India, and other developing nations.
