SOCI – Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Programming – September 28, 2023

Date: Sept 13, 2023

Classification: Unclassified

Department: IRCC

Issue:

Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs and facilitative measures

Proposed Response:

• Temporary foreign workers help keep Canada competitive by filling short term labour and skills gaps. They come through both the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the International Mobility Program, both of which are driven by demand.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) recently introduced a number of facilitative measures to support employers and workers. These include open work permits for holders of an American H-1B visa, with additional work and study authorization options for eligible family members. This will help innovative businesses in Canada thrive by ensuring they have the talent they need, when they need it.
• IRCC also introduced a two year pilot project that expanded eligibility under the Francophone Mobility stream, and expanded work permit eligibility to spouses and dependents of workers at almost all skill-levels for a two¬ year period. These measures aim to increase the number of workers available to fill labour shortages and skills gaps in various sectors, while supporting family reunification and francophone immigration goals.
• We are also continuing to prioritize application processing in essential sectors such as agriculture, agrifood processing, and health care.

Contact:
Korey McKinnon
A/Director General. Social and Temporary Migration Branch
Tel. No.: 613-867-0408

Approved By:
Louise Baird
SADM, SPP

Background:

TFWP and IMP

• Foreign nationals can apply for a work permit through one of two programs: the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) or the International Mobility Program (IMP). Both offer a range of different streams designed to meet specific objectives:
  • The TFWP seeks to address labour and skills shortages by helping employers fulfill their workforce needs on a temporary basis when they are unable to find qualified Canadians or permanent residents. In order to hire through the TFWP, employers must demonstrate that hiring a foreign worker will have a positive or neutral impact on the labour market. This Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process is administered by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), while IRCC is responsible for work permit issuance.
  • The IMP is administered by IRCC, and facilitates the entry of workers to support Canada’s broader economic, social and/or cultural objectives. Foreign workers under the IMP are exempt from the LMIA requirement. They include workers covered by international trade or bilateral agreements, youth taking part in working holiday exchanges, postgraduate international students, employees transferred within a multinational company, certain academics, and charitable and religious workers, among others.
• Temporary foreign workers coming under the TFWP and IMP play an important role in many sectors of the Canadian economy.
• The Department issued approximately 692,760 work permits from January 1 to August 31, 2023, compared to about 274,690 over the same period last year.

Employer-Specific vs Open Work Permits

• Work permits can either be employer specific (closed) or open. Employer-specific work permit holders are authorized to work exclusively for the employer who supported the work permit application, while open work permit holders are able to work for almost any employer in Canada without having to submit a new application to IRCC. All work permits issued under the TFWP are employer-specific, while work permits issued under the IMP can be either open or employer-specific.
  • Work permit issuance under the IMP has increased over time in comparison to those issued under the TFWP, as has the issuance of open work permits. Between 2017 and 2022, approx. 17% of work permits were issued under the TFWP, and the remaining 83% under the IMP.
  • In 2022, 77% (807,282) of all work permits issued were open work permits, while 23% were employer-specific work permits. 42% of employer-specific work permits were issued under the IMP, and 58% were issued under the TFWP.
• Work permits are demand-driven; there are no set levels or limits on the number of TFWs admitted to Canada in a given year since they are meant to fill existing and emerging labour and skills shortages. This is particularly true of work permits issued in support of workers applying under the TFWP, whereas the IMP is designed to support broader social, cultural and economic benefits to Canada.
• Recently, a class-action lawsuit was initiated against the Canadian government for allegedly violating foreign workers’ rights under the closed work permit regime. The Applicants are challenging numerous sections of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, which permit IRCC to issue employer-specific work permits on the basis that they are inconsistent with the Charter as they restrict the physical liberty of the employees, render employees “vulnerable to contemporary forms of slavery” and predominantly impact minorities. This litigation is in it’s early stages and IRCC is reviewing the claim.

Work Permit Extensions

• Work permits have varying durations, and generally are not more than 3 years in length.
• For temporary workers already in Canada, IRCC has taken steps to encourage and support foreign nationals eligible to do so to apply for extensions (e.g., by providing more time to provide documentation or to complete biometrics). Foreign workers who apply to renew their work permit before it expires benefit from “maintained status”, which enables individuals to remain legally in Canada so long as they continue to comply with the conditions of their original work permit while awaiting a decision on their application.
• Between June 7, 2023 and June 28, 2023, many open work permit holders with permits expiring between August 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023, such as spouses of workers and those awaiting a decision on their permanent residence applications, had an opportunity to opt in to a facilitative process to get their work permit extended by an additional 18 months.
• Under this one-time facilitation measure approximately 8,039 open work permits were extended, allowing the holders to work for almost any employer anywhere in Canada. By proactively extending their work permits, these workers are able to continue working in Canada, build lasting relationships in their communities, develop new skills, and remain available to employers in this competitive labour market.

Quebec

• While the TFW Program is largely administered by the federal government, Quebec has a distinct role in this program. Under the 1991 Canada-Quebec Accord, the labour market impact assessment is jointly managed by ESDC and Quebec’s Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) for employers seeking authorization to hire temporary foreign workers for jobs in Quebec. Employers seeking to hire temporary foreign workers in Quebec must obtain approval from both ESDC and the MIFI before IRCC can issue a work permit.
  • Temporary workers coming to Quebec, as part of the IMP, do not need to obtain approval from Quebec before IRCC can issue a work permit since no labour market impact assessment is required.
• The Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec have negotiated greater flexibility for the province under the IMP and the TFWP. This includes:
  • Expanding the Processus Simplifié to include Quebec-destined workers in Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) 4 occupations. This provides additional flexibility for Quebec employers under the TFWP to address their labour needs. This measure has been extended to February 2024.
• IRCC also introduced ministerial instructions for a capped work permit pathway under the International Mobility Program Plus (IMP+) in May 2022, allowing eligible foreign nationals who are pre-selected for permanent residence by Quebec to work in Canada while they await their permanent residence application to be finalized, which provides the opportunity to move to Quebec right away and begin working and settling into their new home, all while filling acute labour shortages.
• The Government of Canada continues to collaborate with the Government of Quebec to ensure that the admission of temporary foreign workers under the TFW Program supports their labour market needs.

TFWP Road Map

• Employers and workers alike can benefit from the suite of measures introduced by ESDC under the Workforce Solutions Road Map to address labour market shortages using the TFWP. These measures will remain in place until October 2023, and include:
  • allowing employers in seven sectors with demonstrated labour shortages (such as accommodation and food services, construction, and food manufacturing) to hire up to 30 percent of their workforce through the TFWP for low-wage positions, and up to 20 percent for employers in all other sectors; and,
  • keeping the LMIA validity period at up to 18 months.

Open Work Permits for H-1B Visa Holders

• On July 16th, IRCC launched the open work permit for H-1B Specialty Occupations visa holders, with additional work and study permit options for eligible family members. IRCC reached the program’s intake cap of 10,000 applications submitted within 2 days.
• Approved applicants will receive an open work permit of up to three years in duration, which means they will be able to work for almost any employer anywhere in Canada.
• The H-1B aims to help businesses in Canada thrive in a competitive landscape by ensuring they have the talent they need, when they need it. The strategy ensures that Canada remains a top destination for highly skilled workers.
• Thousands of workers in high-tech fields are employed with companies that have large operations in both Canada and the United States. This will expand opportunities available for skilled workers to continue to pursue their careers in the high-tech sector and contribute to economic growth and prosperity in North America.

Francophone Mobility Stream

• On June 15, 2023, IRCC announced and implemented a 2 year pilot project which provides updates to the Francophone Mobility stream, exempting employers from the LMIA requirement in all occupations, except primary agriculture, when hiring a foreign national who can provide proof they meet a moderate level of speaking and listening in French, equivalent to a Canadian language benchmarks (CLB) level 5.
• IRCC received 734 work permit applications from June 1 to July 31, 2023, 573 of which were received since the expansion of this stream on June 15th. While it is too soon to determine the success of this initiative, this represents more than double the average of applications received for this two-month period in the previous five years; however, preliminary data shows that approximately 10% of applications received from June 15 to July 31, 2023, were within the expanded lower-skilled occupations.

Study Authorization for Foreign Nationals with a Work Permit

• In June 2023, IRCC introduced a temporary public policy that allows eligible temporary foreign workers to study for the duration of their work authorization, as full-time or part-time students, without having to obtain a study permit. This measure applies to foreign nationals who were issued work permits on or before June 7, 2023, or who submitted a work permit extension application, on or before June 7, 2023.
• Under existing rules, foreign workers have been able to study while they work but have been limited to enrolling in programs that are 6 months or less in duration and completed within the period authorized for their stay upon entry to Canada.
• This change gives foreign workers the opportunity to seek additional training and education that may help them gain or improve skills in pursuit of their desired career paths. Through upskilling, these foreign nationals can expand their future job prospects and pursue credentialing programs to transition to permanent residence.

Open Work Permits for Family of Temporary Foreign Workers

• Effective January 2023, spouses and dependents of workers who come under the International Mobility Program as well as those in higher skilled occupations coming under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are eligible for open work permits.
• Consultation is under way as to whether further expansion to family members (spouses and dependents) of workers under the Low Wage Stream of the TFWP and the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program would be prudent.

Global Skills Strategy

• The Global Skills Strategy (GSS) was launched in June 2017 to provide companies with access to global talent by getting highly skilled workers into Canada faster.
• Between its launch and the end of July 31, 2023, nearly 112,315 work permits were approved for highly skilled workers to work in occupations such as computer programming, information system analysis and software engineering. Spouses and dependents of these workers are also eligible to apply for an open work permit, and receive expedited processing so that they may accompany the principal applicant to Canada.
• More workers are deciding to stay in Canada, with former GSS work permit holders accounting for approximately 18,960 permanent residence admissions since the program’s launch and the end of July 31, 2023 (principal applicants only).

Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWP)

• Starting April 6, 2023 and expiring December 31, 2023, new measures allow certain PGWP holders to opt in to a facilitative process to extend their work permit. This facilitative measure allows Canada to retain high-skilled talent.
• In addition, as part of these measures, foreign nationals whose PGWP expires between September 20, 2021 and December, 31, 2023 have the opportunity to apply for an additional 18-month open work permit. Those with expired work permits are able to restore their status, even if they are beyond the normal 90-day restoration period. Eligible foreign nationals under this facilitative measure have been issued an interim work authorization which allows them to continue working immediately while awaiting processing of their new work permit application.
• Those nearing the end of their PGWP are already well-integrated into Canada’s labour market, and the additional open work permit will allow eligible applicants to continue contributing to the Canadian economy while gaining valuable work experience and preparing for the opportunity to apply for permanent residence.