CIMM –Opening Remarks - The Honourable Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship– November 07, 2023

Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) - Employer-Specific Work Permits and Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program

November 7, 2023

619 words (= 5 minutes)

I want to start by acknowledging that we are gathering on the traditional and unceded territories of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people.

Thank you, Mr. Chair^{Footnote 1} and Committee members, for inviting me to discuss the important role that foreign workers play in Canada’s labour market.

There are significant challenges to Canada’s economy and our labour market. Fifty years ago, our worker-retiree ratio was 7‑to‑1. Today, it’s nearly 3‑to‑1, and it will approach 2‑to‑1 in the decades ahead if we don’t welcome more newcomers. That ratio will put our infrastructure and key programs like health care and education at risk.

We need newcomers to grow our economy, and build our communities.

Thanks to immigration Canada’s labour force is growing. Canada remains a top destination for talented people from around the globe. Immigration helps employers find the qualified workers they need to address labour market shortages. For instance, about half of all STEM degree holders in Canada came here from other countries. They help spur innovation and boost our standing in the knowledge economy.

Canada has two broad work permit programs, both critical for employers with short-term labour needs.

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFW), managed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), provides employer-specific work permits with Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) requirements. Workers under the TFW program often contribute to key sectors such as agriculture, seafood, and construction—to name a few.

The International Mobility Program (IMP), delivered solely by IRCC, provides mostly open work permits, with some being employer-specific.

Workers under both programs bring in-demand skills to Canada and make valuable contributions to our economy. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Canada’s Global Skills Strategy has been a game-changer for our tech sector since its introduction in 2017, attracting foreign investment as well as foreign talent.

The government maintains oversight of temporary foreign workers and their impacts on our labour market by making certain work permits employer-specific. That means the permit is associated with one occupation, wage, location and employer.

Employer-specific permits enable us to conduct inspections to ensure employers comply with regulatory conditions and employment standards legislation—for example, providing a workplace free of abuse, respecting a worker’s job description, and not engaging in reprisals against workers who raise concerns. Employers who break these rules can incur penalties ranging from warning letters to fines to bans on hiring temporary foreign workers, even permanently.

The Temporary Foreign Worker program further takes into account minimum working conditions and other aspects of collective agreements, including wage requirements, which are used to prevent wage suppression for foreign workers and Canadians alike.

It should be noted that certain streams of employer-specific work permit holders receive additional support through the TFW program. For example, employers hiring under the Agricultural Stream and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program must pay for a worker’s round-trip transportation from their home country to their job in Canada, then provide suitable housing that’s free of charge, on-farm or off-site. There are similar requirements for the Low-Wage Streams of the TFW program.

Any instances of harassment, abuse, or exploitation under the program are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Workers known to be more vulnerable are safer when they can move more easily between jobs. IRCC has introduced measures to allow workers with employer-specific permits to change jobs faster. At the same time, through the open work permit for vulnerable workers, we are making it easier for workers to leave abusive situations. We are also exploring how to broaden temporary work permits to be sector- or industry-specific, rather than employer-specific.

IRCC will continue monitoring and improving its policies and programs to ensure they serve the best interests of the temporary foreign workers who contribute so much to Canada.

Our whole-of-government approach to developing the Immigration Levels Plan, which I tabled last week, also involves taking a closer look at temporary resident immigration levels and making sure they align with our capacity and needs, to ensure sustainable growth into the future.

Thank you. I am happy to take your questions.