Canada to restrict hiring of foreign workers

Ottawa. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday urged businesses to hire Canadian nationals as his government announced new restrictions to limit low-wage temporary foreign workers.

Ottawa is also considering lowering its immigration targets for permanent residents.

The Liberal government, which has come under fire for a recent influx of temporary foreign workers, is reinstating pre-Covid-19 rules that made it difficult for companies to hire low-wage foreign workers.

Speaking to reporters in Halifax, Trudeau said his government had relaxed rules to help businesses facing labour shortages recover from the pandemic.

But the economic situation is different now, he said, and Canada “no longer needs as many temporary foreign workers.”

“We need Canadian companies to invest in training and technology and not increase their dependence on low-cost foreign labour,” Trudeau said.

“It’s not fair to Canadians who are struggling to find good work, and it’s not fair to temporary foreign workers, some of whom are being mistreated and exploited,” he added.

Asked whether the federal government was considering restricting the number of permanent residents as well, the prime minister said these were “ongoing discussions.”

Starting September 26, the government will reject applications from low-wage temporary foreign workers in regions with an unemployment rate of six percent or more.

Employers will be allowed to hire a maximum of 10 percent of their workforce from the temporary foreign worker program, up from 20 percent.

Workers hired through the low-wage stream will be able to work for a maximum of one year, instead of two years.

There will be some exceptions to the rules for specific sectors such as healthcare and construction.

This announcement is the latest effort by the federal government to limit the number of people entering the country.

The temporary foreign worker program has also been criticized for allowing cheap labor into the country at a time when the economy is slowing.

When the federal government eased restrictions on the program in 2022, Canada had about one million job openings nationwide and the unemployment rate fell to a record low of 4.9 per cent.

Job openings have since declined significantly and the unemployment rate is rising as high interest rates restrict economic growth.

In July, the unemployment rate was 6.4 percent.

While the Liberal government has defended its decision to relax the rules, it now acknowledges that it is time to tighten them again.

According to public data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 183,820 temporary foreign worker permits were issued in 2023. That was up from 98,025 in 2019, an increase of 88 per cent.