Temporary foreign workers (TFWs) play a vital role in critical sectors of the Canadian economy and society, including in agriculture, food processing and healthcare. Their contributions became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Protection of TFWs while in Canada is a priority. The Government is working with provincial/territorial, industry and not-for-profit partners to ensure these workers have access to services and that health and safety protocols are followed in their workplaces.
My Department continues to support these workers by improving processing standards. We are working towards achieving the two-month processing commitment for clients abroad and we are already meeting our fourth-month processing standards for applications submitted from within Canada.
Supplementary Messages
TFWs play a vital role in our economy by helping employers fill jobs when Canadians or permanent residents are not available, and by bringing skills and expertise to companies seeking a competitive advantage.
Pathways to permanent residence
The Temporary Resident to Permanent Residence Pathway was very well received and saw over 91,000 applications submitted to the Department prior to its closure on November 5, 2021.
over 7,100 applications were accepted in the temporary workers in health care stream;
30,000 applications were received for the temporary workers in other selected essential occupations streams; and
over 47,000 applications were received for the international students who graduated from a Canadian institution stream.
To promote Canada’s official languages, three additional streams without intake caps were dedicated to French-speaking and bilingual candidates, with over 7,000 applications received in the same categories noted above.
From January 2021 to January 31, 2022, over 30,000 individuals received permanent residence through this temporary pathway to permanent residence.
Worker safety and rights (protection of vulnerable workers, agricultural)
Foreign workers have the same rights to workplace protections under federal, provincial and territorial employment standards and collective agreements as Canadians and permanent residents.
In April 2020, changes were made to the employer compliance regime due to COVID-19 to better protect TFWs.
Employers subject to the TFW Program and International Mobility Program (IMP) employer compliance regimes are now required by regulation to not prevent TFW from meeting the requirements under the Quarantine Act or any provincial legislation that governs public health in response to COVID-19. Employers are also required to pay wages to TFWs who must isolate or quarantine upon arrival in Canada to prevent workers from being left destitute. Additionally, penalties have increased for employers who do not cooperate with inspections.
Employers who provide accommodations for their TFWs workers (e.g. agriculture workers) must also follow additional quarantine-related conditions to support positive health outcomes for their staff.
TFWs who are at risk of experiencing abuse in their jobs can apply to the Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers, a temporary and non-renewable permit issued for 12 months. This program helps workers quickly exit situations of workplace abuse and find a new job without compromising their authorization to work in Canada.
Global Skills Strategy
The Global Skills Strategy was launched in June 2017 to provide companies to access to top talent by getting highly-skilled workers into our country faster.
By January 2022, almost 76,000 high-skilled workers were approved to work in occupations such as computer programming, information system analysis and software engineering. Spouses of these workers are eligible to apply for work permits to pursue their own careers if they choose.
More workers are deciding to stay in Canada with nearly 12,000 workers having made the transition to permanent residence since program launch as of January 2022.
Facilitative measures for temporary foreign workers
For TFWs who were already in Canada at the onset of the pandemic, IRCC introduced a number of measures to mitigate disruptions to client services. These include public policies that:
allow temporary foreign workers in Canada who have lost their job or are changing jobs to start work with the new employer more quickly while their work permit application is processed, and this measure remains in effect;
exempt foreign nationals in Canada from having to provide biometrics for all pending and new applications or requests for a temporary resident visa or status, work permit, study permit or temporary resident permit, and this measure remains in effect;
extended the time a temporary resident had to restore their status after it expired and allowed them to work while they waited for a decision on their application. Data demonstrated little need for this public policy, as such it expired on August 31, 2021; and,
allow visitors in Canada with a valid job offer to apply for a work permit without having to leave Canada, and to allow former work permit holders to begin working before their application is fully processed. This public policy remains in effect until end of February 2023.
We have also provided an exemption from the requirement to provide biometrics overseas for work permit applications in key industries, namely agriculture, agri-food, healthcare sectors as well as truckers where overseas biometrics collection services are closed. A border services officer retains the discretion to collect biometrics at the port of entry on a case-by-case basis.
Finally, various industry-targeted measures, such as priority processing in sectors like agriculture, transportation and health care, as well as measures to facilitate the entry of temporary foreign workers in sports and film industries, were also implemented.
Quebec flexibility under the TFWP
In August 2021, the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec expressed an intention to provide Quebec with more flexibility under the IMP and the TFWP. Measures include:
raising the cap on the percentage of low-wage TFWs a Quebec employer may hire through the TFWP from 10% to 20%; and,
allowing the inclusion of National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill level C occupations under the simplified process for accessing an LMIA, akin to what is currently in place for NOC level A and B occupations.
IRCC is also working to implement a new work permit pathway in the IMP that would issue up to 7,000 work permits annually to holders of a certificat de sélection du Québec who reside outside of Quebec to fill regional labour shortages.
Supporting Facts and Figures
Work permit numbers were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic: in 2019, IRCC issued work permits to 403,545 workers across all sectors in the TFW Program and IMP. Issuance dropped to approximately 325,655 holders in 2020.
However, work permit issuance is now rebounding. Between January and December 31, 2021, approximately 113,900 work permits were issued under the TFWP and 485,400 under the IMP for a total of 599,300.
