CIMM –Narrative– November 07, 2023
Minister’s Appearance before CIMM on Employer-Specific Work Permits and Temporary Foreign Workers
Temporary foreign workers play an important role in Canada’s prosperity, supporting economic growth in key industries and enriching the diversity of our workplaces and communities. To meet the needs of employers and our economy, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Government of Canada offer a number of temporary foreign worker programs, with thousands transitioning to become permanent residents each year. In 2022, more than 105,000 individuals transitioned to permanent residence.
Importance of Immigration to Canada’s Labour Force and Economy
Canada’s worker-to-retiree ratio has dropped from 7 to 1 fifty years ago to nearly 3 to 1 now. If we don’t welcome more newcomers, that number will approach 2 to 1 in the decades ahead. But thanks to immigration, Canada’s labour force continues to grow every year. While funds for public services are vital, welcoming immigrants is equally important in helping employers find qualified workers to fill available jobs when Canadians are unavailable.
Temporary foreign workers (TFWs) are important contributors to Canada, and support the success and growth of many industries, notably agriculture and agri-food, seafood, health care and technology. They often work in fields where no Canadian labour is available, thus helping to ensure vital continuity of businesses and overall industries.
Benefits of Employer-Specific Work Permits
Employer-specific work permits are the mechanism by which the government maintains oversight of the labour market impacts of hiring temporary foreign workers. They are important to maintaining program integrity.
Each job offer in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is associated with a specified occupation, wage, location and employer. TFWP policies take into account union and collective agreements as they relate to wages and working conditions that employers must offer to temporary foreign workers. This helps avoid wage suppression for foreign workers and Canadians alike.
Employer-specific work permits allow for inspections of employers to determine their compliance with regulations on providing workplaces that are free of abuse and on ensuring that TFWs are working in accordance with their job offer. Non-compliant employers may be subject to consequences, which can range from a warning letter and administrative monetary penalties to temporary or even permanent ineligibility from hiring temporary foreign workers. Conversely, we do not currently conduct employer inspections for open work permit holders.
Under Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC) TFW Program, employer-specific work permit holders benefit from assistance with housing and transportation under certain streams. Employers hiring under the agricultural stream and the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) are required to provide adequate, suitable and affordable housing free of charge either on the farm or off-site.
Employers hiring under the low-wage stream must either provide suitable and affordable housing or ensure its availability. Accommodations must cost less than 30% of the TFW’s before-tax income. Further, under the SAWP and the agricultural and low-wage streams of the TFWP, the employer must pay for the round-trip transportation costs for TFWs to arrive at their work location in Canada and to return home.
We respectfully disagree with the suggestion that work permit holders are entirely dependent on their employer for their status and livelihood in Canada. All workers, including TFWs, have the right to quit or change jobs and/or occupations. In this vein, we have implemented facilitative measures to support employer-specific work permit holders, including the open work permit for vulnerable workers, to allow workers to leave abusive situations, as well as the Changing Employers Public Policy that allows workers to begin working with a new employer quickly.
The Department is exploring new ideas in the realm of worker protection, such as the use of occupation-restricted open work permits similar to the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker caregiver pilot programs. This includes built-in mechanisms to safeguard workers who are known to be more vulnerable by allowing them to easily move between employers.
IRCC is actively analyzing policies and programs to ensure they are serving the best interests of temporary foreign workers in Canada in the long term.
Background:
Canada’s Work Permit Programs
Eligible foreign nationals interested in working in Canada temporarily can come through the TFW Program co-administered by ESDC and IRCC, or the International Mobility Program (IMP), administered solely by IRCC. The TFW Program features a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) to ensure employers in Canada are hiring foreign workers when no Canadians or permanent residents are available for the job. ESDC is responsible for the design of the program as well as the review and approval of LMIAs, while Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is responsible for assessing the work permit, which includes ensuring that work permit applicants meet admissibility requirements (health, criminality, and security) and other requirements necessary for the issuance of a permit, such as the demonstrated ability to perform the job in question and the likelihood of departing Canada at the end of the period authorized for temporary entry.
Some types of temporary workers do not require an LMIA and they can apply directly to IRCC for a work permit through the IMP. Unlike the TFW Program, the IMP is not intended to simply fill specific labour market shortages. Rather, exemptions from the LMIA process exist in support of broader economic, social and/or cultural goals or reciprocal benefits to Canada, which supersede the need for a specific labour market assessment. Some LMIA exemptions lead to an “open” work permit, which allows the applicant to work for an employer of their choosing, but these are typically for people in particular situations in their lives – they are accompanying their spouse to Canada, or they just graduated from their educational program, or they are participating in a working holiday through the International Experience Canada initiative.
Worker protections
Temporary foreign workers have the same rights, fair wages and workplace protections as Canadians and permanent residents.
On the federal government’s part, both ESDC for the TFWP and IRCC for the IMP have robust compliance regimes that inspect employers for their treatment of employer-specific work permit holders. All the while, we continue to strive to do better. Last year, we bolstered regulations to increase protection for foreign workers against mistreatment, abuse and intimidation by requiring employers to:
- inform workers about their rights in Canada
- provide a signed employment agreement to workers that includes the same occupation, wages and working conditions as what they provide to the Government of Canada
- prevent charging or recovering fees or costs related to the recruitment of the worker
- stop reprisals against workers who raise concerns or make complaints about their workplace
- provide access to health care services when the temporary foreign worker is injured or becomes ill at the workplace
When employers are found noncompliant, they can face serious consequences, including fines or bans on hiring temporary foreign workers. More than 750 employers are listed on the government’s website as having received a monetary penalty or a ban since the compliance regime was put in place.
Transition from temporary residence to permanent residence
Many temporary foreign workers have the goal of one day remaining in Canada as permanent residents to either establish a life in Canada or to join their families here on a permanent basis. Thousands successfully make that transition each year.
We offer a range of permanent residence programs that temporary workers can consider as they look to apply. Many work permit holders transition to PR through Express Entry, a Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP), or one of the pilot programs we currently have in place, such as the caregiver pilots, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) or the Agri-Food Pilot.
In the past year, we have also enacted new policies that benefit workers considering a future transition to permanent residence, including expanding the rights of work permit holders to enable them to study while in Canada, and extending the opportunity to get a work permit to more spouses and dependents of foreign workers so they are able to accompany the principal applicant to Canada and find work.
Pathways for Out-Of-Status Individuals
In December 2021, the former minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship was mandated to “build on existing pilot programs to further explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities.” We are continuing to work to deliver on this mandate commitment and offer pathways for undocumented workers. IRCC has been engaging with academic experts and stakeholders, including the Canadian Council for Refugees and Migrant Rights Network, and reviewing international experiences. As we advance our work on further programs, we will continue listening to experts as well as undocumented workers themselves.