Authored by the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association (CILA).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Note: This article is meant to stimulate dialogue on this topic. It does not represent the views of all CILA members. CILA strongly recommends the Canadian government consult widely to determine the best path forward.<\/em><\/p>\n In a recent interview with <\/span>Bloomberg<\/span><\/a>, Canada\u2019s Immigration Minister Marc Miller stated employers have become \u201caddicted\u201d to temporary foreign workers and he is considering reforms as a result.<\/span><\/p>\n There is no question that Canada should pursue foreign worker policies that protect the domestic workforce and promote economic development. It is not in Canada\u2019s interests to see foreign workers displace domestic workers and drive down wages. The goal is for foreign workers to complement Canadian ones to support stronger living standards across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n There is also no question that foreign worker policies\u2013just like policies in all areas\u2013should be periodically reviewed to ensure they are achieving their objectives and are benefitting Canadians.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But to do this, we need to have an honest conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the major sources of Canada\u2019s foreign workers are international students. There was a time when Canada would not allow international students to work off-campus during their studies, before this policy was amended to allow them to work up to 20 hours per week off-campus while studying, and full-time during scheduled breaks such as the summer and winter holidays. The rationale is international students can support themselves financially in Canada, while remaining focused on their studies, gain Canadian work experience, and employers can benefit from their talents and labour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 2022, however, the Canadian government <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> it would allow international students to work full-time even while studying to help alleviate labour shortages. This policy remains in place and is set to end in April. Some 684,000 study permits took effect in 2023\u2013an increase of 25 per cent compared to the nearly 550,000 that took effect in 2022. While the off-campus work exemptions do not apply to most of these international students, these figures highlight the staggering number of international students the Canadian government allowed into the country and potentially into the labour market.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition, the vast majority of foreign workers are welcomed by Canada under a pathway that does not require Canadian employers to demonstrate they have genuine labour shortages and that there are no Canadians to do the job. This pathway, known as the International Mobility Program (IMP), accounted for <\/span>768,000 work permits<\/span><\/a> that took effect in 2023\u2013an increase of 64 per cent year-over-year. Again, it exists due to the Canadian government\u2019s broad policy objectives, not due to employers looking to import cheap labour. Canada issues IMP work permits for a host of economic, social and cultural reasons. For instance, many of the work permits issued since 2022 have been for humanitarian purposes to assist <\/span>Ukrainians<\/span><\/a> fleeing war. Other examples include issuing IMP work permits because of youth mobility agreements with peer nations, asylum claimants, and to keep families together.<\/span><\/p>\n The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), which requires employers to prove no Canadian is available to do the job, accounted for some <\/span>185,000 work permits<\/span><\/a> that took effect in 2023\u2013a 37 per cent increase compared to 2022. In other words, the TFWP comprised about 19 per cent of all new work permits issued in 2023, and an even smaller share if we count the new international students who entered the labour market last year. In addition, the TFWP accounted for less than 1 per cent of <\/span>Canada\u2019s labour force<\/span><\/a>. This shows that the TFWP is working somewhat as intended, given it is meant to be used by employers as a last resort. It is also worth pointing out many of those admitted under the TFWP work in agriculture, a sector which <\/span>research shows<\/span><\/a> struggles to attract Canadian workers, and so the TFWP comprises a fraction of a per cent for all other sectors of the economy, including crucial ones such as healthcare.<\/span><\/p>\n Thus, it does not stand up to scrutiny for the government to blame employers for accessing foreign workers when it is the same government that has allowed more foreign workers, and international students into Canada, and also allowed international students to work more hours, even while they have been admitted to Canada predominantly on the basis of furthering their education here. To be clear, the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association is supportive of allowing genuine international students to work off-campus part-time during their studies. What we are against, however, is government blaming stakeholders\u2013employers in this case\u2013when it is the government itself that has significantly increased Canada\u2019s supply of foreign nationals eligible to work temporarily. Such blame is not conducive to forming more effective policies. Moreover, it is not conducive for the government to accuse employers of being addicted to foreign talent on the one hand, while lamenting on the other hand when employers do not hire newcomers (e.g., due to a lack of \u201cCanadian experience\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n This is not to say the system is perfect. Here are CILA\u2019s suggestions on foreign worker reform:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n CILA welcomes the federal government\u2019s review of its foreign worker policies and believes it is possible to balance integrity without undermining Canada\u2019s economic interests. Wide consultations with experts such as economists and other stakeholders can best enable the federal government to strike this balance.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Authored by the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association (CILA).<\/p>","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":1930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[593,7,12,6],"tags":[79,214,52,24,447,80,164,61],"class_list":["post-6687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-positions","category-stakeholder-engagement","category-subject-matter-expertise","category-thought-leadership","tag-esdc","tag-imp","tag-international-students","tag-ircc","tag-labour-market","tag-lmia","tag-study-permit","tag-tfwp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n