IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2021: Temporary Workers

Context

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) authorizes foreign nationals to work in Canada temporarily (with or without a work permit).
• “Work”, as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations,is:
  • An activity for which an individual is paid a wage or commission; or
  • An activity that competes with activities of Canadian citizens or permanent residents in the Canadian labour market.

Work without a work permit

• Business visitors
• Foreign diplomats
• Visiting military personnel
• Emergency service providers
• Performing artists
• Sporting event participants
• Transportation crew

Work with a work permit

Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)

Two-step process:

1. Labour market test
2. Work permit

International Mobility Program (IMP)

One-step process:

1. Work permit (exempt from the labour market test)
   • Work permits are a demand-driven area; there are no set levels or limits on the number of foreign workers admitted to Canada; work permits are issued in response to employers’ labour needs or to support broader immigration goals.

Current Programs

Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Objective

• “Last resort” measure to fill temporary skills shortages.

Labour market test

• Yes – labour market impact assessment.

Requirements

• Employers must demonstrate that no Canadian labour is available.

Department

• Employment and Social Development Canada administers the program with IRCC, with the Canada Border Services Agency at the border.

Type of work permit

• Employer-specific.

Employer compliance

• Yes.

Cost

• $1,000 labour market impact assessment application fee (includes compliance); plus
• $155 work permit application fee; and
• $85 biometrics fee.

Sample occupations

• Caregivers, cooks, food processors, service supervisors, truck drivers.

International Mobility Program

Objective

• Support broader policy goals (e.g. Canadian interests, international agreements, talent attraction).

Labour market test

• No.

Requirements

• Foreign nationals must demonstrate that their work will result in significant economic, social or cultural advantages or reciprocal benefit to Canada.

Department

• Administered by IRCC, with the Canada Border Services Agency at the border.

Type of work permit

• Employer-specific and open.

Employer compliance

• Yes – only for employer-specific work permits.

Cost

• $230 employer compliance fee or $100 open work permit fee; plus
• $155 work permit application fee; et
• $85 biometrics fee.

Sample occupations

• Senior managers, engineers, information technology professionals, business consultants, physicians, athletes, professors.

Spotlight on the International Mobility Program

• The IMP is built on the assumption that benefits to Canada from the facilitation of select foreign workers exceed any potential harm to the domestic labour market.
• Five regulatory exemptions (found in s. 204 to 208 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations) translate into over 50 exemptions from the requirement to obtain a labour market impact assessment.
• Exemptions are based on broader Government of Canada objectives and the themes include:
  • International Agreements
  • Economic Benefit and Competitiveness
  • Competitiveness of Academic Institutions
  • Sector-specific solutions
  • Provincial / Territorial Commitments
  • Social / Cultural Interests
  • Humanitarian and Compassionate Reasons / Public Policies
  • Transitions to Permanent Residence

Work Permit Holders – 2019

Approximate total: 406,000^{Footnote 1}

Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Total: 98,273

• Agricultural workers – 58%
• Caregivers – 7%
• Others^{Footnote 2} - 35%

International Mobility Program

Total: 305,470

• Post-graduate employment – 32%
• International Experience Canada – 20.4%
• Spouses of skilled workers – 13%
• Spouses of students – 8%
• Intra-company transferees – 6%
• Professional (in’t free trade agreements) – 3%
• Canada-Provincial/Territorial Agreement – 3%
• Significant Benefits – 3%
• Francophone Mobility – 0.6%^{Footnote 3}
• Other MP – 11%

Impact of Migrant Workers

• Alongside permanent immigration and a domestic supply of potential workers (e.g. Canadian graduates), temporary foreign workers are a longstanding source of labour and talent for Canadian employers.
• Employers tend to rely more heavily on temporary foreign workers to meet workforce demands:
  • in some industries experiencing difficulties attracting Canadians (e.g. agriculture);
  • when overall market conditions are tight (e.g. low unemployment, high job vacancy rate); and/or
  • in certain niche, fast-moving sectors (e.g. information technology).
• Canada’s facilitative pathways for foreign workers are a competitive advantage for employers looking to attract talent: 
  • Canada’s openness to temporary immigration (as evidenced in initiatives like the Global Skills Strategy) can be a catalyst for attracting foreign investment and job-generating enterprises. This, in turn, promotes economic growth (“money follows talent”).

Permanent residents of the future

• Increasingly, temporary workers are seen as a promising pool of talent to transition to permanent residence.
  • Canadian work experience, labour market attachment, language skills, and social/cultural integration are known to lead to positive long-term outcomes.
  • In 2018, about 62% of the approximately 82,000 principal applicants outside Quebec admitted in economic permanent residence programs previously held a temporary work permit.
  • Innovative and temporary pathways to permanent residence were recently introduced for over 90,000 temporary foreign workers in essential occupations and international graduates of Canadian institutions who are actively contributing to Canada’s economy.

Key Elements

The Government has facilitated the work of certain foreign nationals in Canada as a means to drive economic investment and create opportunities for Canadians abroad:

Global Skills Strategy

• Expedited work permits/labour market test for high skilled talent

Pathways to permanent residency

• Assist in early integration of foreign nationals to encourage long term retention in communities (e.g. Atlantic Immigration Program)

Trade agreements

• Negotiating reciprocal access to foreign labour markets for Canadians

Several measures have been put in place to address worker vulnerability and strengthen program compliance:

Open work permits for vulnerable workers

• Launched in June 2019, foreign workers with employer-specific work permits who are experiencing, or at risk of, employer abuse now have a means to transition to a new job while they seek out a longer-term solution.

Employer compliance

• Under the employer compliance regimes of both the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the International Mobility Program, employers are required to be compliant with certain conditions such as providing proper wages and an abuse-free work place.
• If found in non-compliance, an employer could face a range of consequences such as administrative monetary penalties and program bans.

Recent Facilitation Measures

Response to COVID-19

• IRCC has prioritized the processing of work permits for essential sectors (health care, agriculture and transportation); and established three public policies to support foreign nationals in Canada during the pandemic in order to:
  • enable foreign workers to change employment more quickly (May 2020 – no expiry);
  • provide more time for temporary residents, including workers, to restore their status if it has expired (July 2020 – August 2021); and
  • allow visitors to apply for a work permit without having to leave Canada (Aug. 2020 – Feb. 2022).

New temporary pathway for educated youth from Hong Kong

• Public policy (Feb. 2021 – Feb. 2023) allowing for an open work permit to be issued to eligible residents of Hong Kong with recent post-secondary education. Family members may also apply for this new open work permit if the principal applicant is found eligible.

Supporting pathways to permanent residence

• A pathway to permanent residence was opened to temporary residents in Canada who recently graduated from a Canadian institution or have Canadian work experience in health care or other designated essential occupations on May 6, 2021.
• Individuals who have applied for this pathway can apply for an open work permit while awaiting the result of their application (July 2021 – Dec. 2022).

Recent Worker Protection Measures

COVID-19 Regulations – April 2020:

• In support of Canada’s response to the pandemic, new requirements were imposed on temporary foreign workers (to comply with requirements under the Quarantine Act) and their employers (such as not preventing workers from quarantining, and paying wages during the quarantine period upon entry to Canada to ensure the worker is not destitute).

Open work permit for vulnerable workers (OWP-V)

• Budget 2021 announced $6.3M over three years for the OWP-V program to support faster processing and improved service delivery for vulnerable migrant workers to safely and quickly exit abusive situations.
• Delivered specialized training to IRCC officers on trauma-informed approaches to assessing OWP-V applications for workers claiming abuse in the workplace.

Worker protection regulations – Pre-publication July 2021

• IRCC and Employment and Social Development Canada co-developed a suite of regulatory amendments to the TFWP and IMP employer compliance regimes to improve worker protections and enhance program integrity, including adding new conditions such as prohibiting employers from recovering employment and recruitment costs from workers.
• The proposal is expected to be in force in the first quarter of 2022.

Key Takeaways

• Issuing work permits to foreign nationals is central to Canada’s economy, as evidenced by growth and demand year after year.
• The pandemic drew attention to the critical role of migrant workers in Canada, particularly in the health care and agricultural sectors, and shed light on the vulnerable circumstances that many workers face.
• The area consistently has high visibility with stakeholders (predominantly pushing for greater efficiency and facilitation) and the public (concerned about fairness, protection of foreign workers and impacts on Canadian jobs).
• These programs and pathways respond to a variety of economic objectives; recent focus has been on facilitative measures for migrant workers and addressing worker vulnerability.