Canada has announced that it will reduce the number of foreign workers allowed into the country and invest in its own citizens.
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The announcement will significantly cut expansions to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program in 2022.
Canada had said it was seeking to attract 485,000 new immigrants in 2024, and 500,000 in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “We’re reducing the number of low-wage, temporary foreign workers in Canada. The labour market has changed. Now is the time for our businesses to invest in Canadian workers and youth.”
Employment and Social Development Canada, the country’s employment ministry, said, “Unfortunately, the TFW Program has been used to circumvent hiring talented workers in Canada.”
It said employers will be allowed to hire no more than 10 per cent of their total workforce through the TFW program.
It added that exceptions will be granted for seasonal and non-seasonal jobs in food security sectors – primary agriculture, food processing, and fish processing – as well as healthcare and construction.
The maximum duration of employment for workers hired through the low-wage stream will also be reduced to one year from two.
“Employers in Canada have a responsibility to invest in the full range of workers available in this country, such as young people, newcomers, and persons with disabilities, who are too often an untapped economic resource in Canada,” it added on Monday.
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“They must also invest in retraining or upskilling to ensure that those they currently employ can adapt to the economy of the future.”
Randy Boissonnault, minister of employment, said the changes, which will come into effect from September 26, will prioritise Canadian workers.
