Canadian companies employed a higher number of temporary foreign workers in 2023 despite the labour market softening and the unemployment rate rising.
Employers were approved to fill around 240,000 job vacancies during the year, an increase of 7.5 per cent from the year before that, and more than double what was permitted in 2018.
The last quarter of 2023 was the largest quarter for approvals since the federal government made many employer-friendly changes to the program in Spring 2022.
Employers were approved to fill upwards of 81,000 positions through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) during that time, according to figures received by The Globe and Mail from Ottawa.
Now, with tighter restrictions on temporary worker numbers, Marc Miller has said that Canadian companies are “addicted” to temporary foreign workers.
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“Let me be clear, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is a last resort,” said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault said at a news conference last month.
“Employers should not use the Temporary Foreign Worker Program as a means to avoid offering competitive wages to Canadians.”
Most workers through the program entered agricultural labour in the fourth quarter.
The TFWP has been increasingly used, including from its low-wage stream. In the last two years, employers have recruited more cooks, retail clerks, and cleaners. All these workers are paid low hourly wages.
Access to temporary foreign workers was broadened in April, through a mix of temporary and permanent measures. This was largely in response to the post-COVID meltdown of the labour market, with an unemployment rate of 4.8 per cent in Summer 2022.
Industries that were particularly hard-hit, such as accommodation and food services, were allowed to hire up to 30 percent of their staff through the low-wage stream of the TFWP. Now, as part of the Trudeau government’s efforts to reduce TFW intake, that cap has been moved down to 20 per cent, as of May 1.
The TFWP allows Canadian employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary jobs when there are no qualified Canadians to do so. The program is regulated through the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations and is administered by IRCC and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Last month, Trudeau’s government made several changes to this program. Moreover, it has said that it will cut temporary resident numbers to 5 per cent of Canada’s total population over the next three years.
Marc Miller announced last month that this will be a close to one per cent reduction from 2023, when 6.3 per cent of Canada’s population was made of temporary residents.
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This is a 19 per cent reduction in temporary resident population, which Miller calls “relatively ambitious” but something that needs doing.
“To set these targets, I’ll be convening a meeting with my provincial and territorial counterparts, as well as other relevant ministers, in early May,” Miller said.
“Provinces and territories know their unique labour needs and capacity, and need to assume responsibility for the people that they bring in as well.”
This is going to result in Ottawa including temporary residents in its annual immigration levels plan for the first time this fall.
