Social media is abuzz in Toronto with users hoping the government will follow Quebec’s lead and pause the low wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
The federal government and Quebec moved to pause the processing of Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications for applicants last week.
“Write your local government agents, write Premier Doug Ford,” urged one user on Reddit.
“When you notice companies are using temporary foreign workers for jobs we know Canadians are applying to (Tim Hortons, Walmart, etc.) Don’t shop there at that location (and) do not accept help from these employees.
“Allow this program to be successful for what it was with people coming in for seasonal farming work, not taking part-time evening and weekend jobs from those who want them here: people who want second jobs, parents who need flexibility for childcare needs and Canadian students.”
Earlier this week, the francophone province of Quebec announced it is going to hit the pause button for six months starting Sept. 3 on any processing of new applications where the jobs pay below $27.47 per hour in the greater Montreal economic region. That’s Quebec’s median hourly wage.
“Our government is focused on preserving the integrity of the TFWP, making sure that employers resort to it only when there are no qualified workers already in Canada available to fill open job positions,” said Randy Boissonnault, the federal minister of employment, workforce development and official languages, on Aug. 20.
“Today’s announcement is part of our ongoing efforts to adjust to the changing labour market while working with provinces and territories to ensure that the rules are followed to protect both Canadian workers and temporary foreign workers, as well as to support the Canadian economy.”
The communities that comprise the greater Montreal area affected by the suspension in LMIA application processing include:
- Baie-d’Urfe
- Beaconsfield
- Cote Saint Luc
- Dollard-des-Ormeaux
- Dorval
- Hampstead
- Kirkland
- L’Ile-Dorval
- Montreal
- Montreal East
- Montreal West
- Mount Royal
- Pointe Claire
- Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue
- Senneville
- Westmount
In the wake of the move by Quebec Premier François Legault’s government, Ontarians began asking on social media for the same sort of measure in Toronto.
“Non-stop daily posts of people applying to thousands of jobs with no answers while companies use temporary foreign workers to suppress wages and promote slavery,” wrote one person on Reddit. “Do we have any shot of getting this going here?”
According to Legault, the decision to temporarily pause the processing of LMIA applications in the Montreal region for low-paying jobs was made necessary by the massive influx of temporary foreign workers into the province over the past year.
“Over the past two years, the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec has doubled from 300,000 to 600,000,” wrote Legault on Facebook.
LMIA Used To Determine If Job Requires The Hiring Of Temporary Foreign Workers
“The federal government is largely responsible for this explosion in the number of temporary immigrants. It has been asked to reduce by half the number of those under its responsibility. We must reduce the number of immigrants to protect our public services, to take pressure off housing and to protect the French language, particularly in Montreal.”
The pause on the processing of LMIA applications in Quebec will not include jobs paying $57,000 or more or jobs in education, the healthcare sector, food processing or construction.
“We must reduce the number of non-permanent residents, which has more than doubled since 2021,” tweeted Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration (MIFI) Christine Fréchette.
“Today, we are announcing a moratorium on new applications and renewals to the TFWP in Montreal, for six months. Strategic sectors are exempt. We must protect our public services, our economy and the French language.”
An LMIA is a document that an employer in Canada may need to get before hiring a foreign worker. A positive LMIA will show that there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job. It will also show that no Canadian worker or permanent resident is available to do the job.
Quebec’s struggle with its high number of temporary foreign workers started in the last quarter of last year when the province hit a new record for temporary residents as they hit 528,034, data from Statistics Canada revealed.
A year earlier, there were only 360,936 temporary residents in that province which under the leadership of its premier had repeatedly stated it would hold the line on immigration.
In November last year, Legault again stated his government’s immigration target in 2024 would be about 50,000 newcomers, about the same as this year, in a stated attempt to prevent the erosion of the French language and Quebecois culture.
“We chose … to keep the thresholds, so the total number of permanent immigrants accepted per year at 50,000,” Legault reportedly said in November.
“We had evaluated the possibility of increasing it to 60,000, but it’s important for us, to stop, to reverse the decline of French.”
Often, temporary workers and international students then seek to immigrate to Canada through either the federal Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) or the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of the provinces.
