Canada Announces Changes To Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Surya Rathee
[Published 23 Mar, 2024 | 04:40 AM]
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Canada Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault recently announced changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TWFP).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada issued a series of temporary measures to help support the labour market needs. Now, with the changing market conditions, Canada has begun to undo these measures - and adopted new ones.

“We are now in a different economic picture. With the gap between unemployment and job vacancies closing, a tightening labour market, some of these measures are no longer needed” - said Minister Boissonnault.

Validity of LMIA will return to 6 months

Employers in Canada who wish to hire foreign nationals under the TFWP must support their application with a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) - which demonstrates that there were no qualified Canadians or permanent residents to fill the role. To help ease the labour market conditions during the pandemic, Canada temporarily increased the validity of an LMIA to 12 months. However, as of May 01, 2024, the validity period of an LMIA will return to 6 months.

Pre-approved LMIA Work Permit in 45 Days

All employers under the low-wage stream identified under the recent announcement will have a reduction from 30% to 20% of their total workforce that can apply under the TFWP. As of May 01, 2024, only the construction and healthcare sectors will be allowed to have up to 30% of their workforce on low-wage TFWP work permits. Also, cap exemptions for the Agriculture sector and seasonal employers will remain unchanged.

Temporary Residents to be added to Immigration Levels Plan

Immigration Minister Marc Miller also announced that starting fall of 2024, temporary resident targets will also be added to the annual Canada Immigration Levels Plan. The Immigration Levels Plan acts as a guide, for the number of immigrants to be welcomed over the coming three years.

Until now, temporary residents were not considered in the Immigration Levels Plan. The Minister clarified that the addition does not mean that Canada is setting a cap on the number of temporary residents to be admitted to Canada. However, it is possible that certain areas will see a limit on the number of applications to be processed.

The Minister said that adding temporary residents to the current Immigration Levels Plan will help Canada stabilize population growth. These changes will help strengthen the integrity of Canada’s Immigration system and in turn the Canadian economy.

“Canada has “become addicted” to temporary foreign workers.” Miller quoted.

More domestic draws for permanent residence

Part of the stabilizing population growth involves changes to how new candidates are selected to apply for Canada PR.

“As part of our efforts for temporary residents to transition to permanent residency, we will have more domestic draws for us and ask provinces and territories taking part in the Provincial Nominee Program to do the same with their allocations. This will re-align our efforts and create a pathway for those in the country to stay and contribute to the economy.”

In other words, Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Express Entry draws, may be more likely to select candidates who are already in Canada on a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV).

Immigration to Canada in 2024

Under the Immigration Levels Plan for 2024-2026, Canada will seek to welcome over 450,000 new permanent residents between 2024 and 2026. The government stated that maintaining this target would not only help stabilize the population boom due to immigration but also allow the federal and provincial governments to support newcomers in Canada.

“Canada will continue to benefit from the important contributions newcomers make each and every day. We want every new family and resident to be set up for success and be able to access the services they need. Our ultimate goal is to ensure a well-managed, sustainable immigration system built on needs rather than profitability at the cost of integrity and sustainability.” said Miller.

Despite the changes, Canada continues to be the #1 destination in the world for immigrants.

Stay tuned for more Canada Immigration News.

Read More: Things to Expect from Canada immigration in 2024

Source: canada.ca