SOCI – Narrative – September 28, 2023

SOCI IRCC Appearance on Canada's Temporary and Migrant Labour Force

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 tens of thousands transitioning to become permanent residents each year. In 2021, more than 168,000 work permit holders transitioned to permanent residency.

Importance of Immigration to Canada’s Labour Force & Economy

The strength of Canada’s economy is measured in part by the number of people working (known as the labour force) and paying taxes to fund our public services, such as health care.

Thanks to immigration, Canada’s labour force continues to grow every year. While funds for public services are vital, welcoming immigrants is important in helping employers find qualified workers to fill available jobs. This is because Canadians are living longer and having fewer children. More people are retiring, and there are fewer students in schools. As a result, the pool of Canadian-born existing and potential workers is limited.

Immigrants contribute to our economy, not only by filling gaps in our labour force and paying taxes, but also by spending money on goods, housing and transportation.

Temporary workers support the success and growth of many industries, such as agriculture and agri-food, health care and technology.

Many immigrants have excellent science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, and they make up about half of all STEM degree holders in Canada. These skills are important in our knowledge economy.

More than 1.6M people work in Canada’s health care sector and many more will be needed in the coming years to ensure continued access to high quality care. Almost 500,000 workers in the health care sector are over the age of 55, and most of these will be retiring in the next decade or so. In addition, there are existing recruitment challenges from everywhere in Canada for nurses, residential care staff and home health care staff. There’s a clear opportunity for immigrants to play an important role in ensuring there are enough people working in the health care sector.

While migrant workers play an important role in filling open jobs in Canada in key sectors, they also contribute significantly to the economy of their home country, through remittances to family members and the earnings they bring back.

Worker protections

In Canada, the rights of all workers—including temporary foreign workers—are protected by law. Temporary foreign workers have the same rights, fair wages and workplace protections as Canadians and permanent residents. Provinces and territories set workplace regulations and labour laws in their jurisdiction to protect all workers, including temporary foreign workers, while the federal government is responsible for regulating federal workplaces.

On the federal government’s part, both Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and IRCC for the International Mobility Program (IMP) have robust compliance regimes that inspect employers for their treatment of foreign workers. 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.

Our enforcement measures are equally strong. When employers are found non-compliant with any of the rules that have been established for Canada’s work permit programs, 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.

While the majority of employers in Canada meet or exceed requirements and treat their employees with respect, our compliance regimes, including the new regulatory changes implemented in 2022, are effective tools in detecting those who do not.

Open Work Permits for Vulnerable Workers

For the workers themselves, the Government of Canada takes the safety and dignity of foreign workers very seriously and has been taking strong action to protect workers. Since June 2019, a foreign worker with an employer-specific work permit who is experiencing abuse or is at risk of being abused in their job by their current employer may apply for an open work permit.

This permit allows them to quickly exit these situations and look for new work with a different employer. The open work permit gives workers the time to find a new employer and apply for a new work permit before their original one expires if they want to stay and work in Canada.

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. Tens of 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 permanent residence through Express Entry, a Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Program, or one of the pilot programs we currently have in place, such as the caregiver pilots, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot 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.

Background, Temporary Foreign Worker / International Mobility Programs

Foreign nationals interested in working in Canada temporarily can come through two programs, if they are eligible. They can come through the TFWP, which is designed to allow employers in Canada to hire foreign workers when no Canadians or permanent residents are available. Work permits issued through the TFWP require a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) and are employer-specific, reflecting the fact that the foreign national has agreed to work for a specific employer who has shown that they have a labour shortage. ESDC is responsible for the design of the program as well as the review and approval of LMIAs, though workers still apply to IRCC for their work permit.

Some types of temporary workers do not require an LMIA and they can apply directly for a work permit through the IMP. Exemptions from the LMIA process aim to provide broader competitive advantages to Canada and reciprocal benefits to Canadians that 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.

There are also streams of the IMP available for workers that aim to promote Canada’s broad economic, social and cultural interests, rather than fill labour market shortages.