Gatineau: The federal government has announced measures to address fraud in Canada’s temporary foreign worker program.
Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, today convened representatives from Canada’s largest business associations that “the TFW Program cannot be used to circumvent hiring talented workers in Canada, and the federal government will take further action to weed out misuse and fraud within the system”.
At the meeting, Minister Boissonnault outlined the following actions that are being implemented to reduce the use of temporary foreign workers in Canada — Enforcing consistent application of the 20 per cent cap policy for temporary foreign workers. This includes the policy for the “dual intent sub-stream”, which applies to temporary foreign workers who intend to apply for permanent residency. Employers using this stream will be subject to more stringent guidelines; Applying a stricter and more rigorous oversight in high-risk areas when processing Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) and when conducting inspections; Considering LMIA fee increases to pay for additional integrity and processing activities; and, Looking to implement future regulatory changes regarding employer eligibility (factors such as a minimum number of years of business operations or history of lay-offs by the employer).
Minister Boissonnault also informed business associations that he is considering implementing refusal to process under the low wage stream.
The federal government said if implemented, this would prevent employers in certain areas and industries from using the TFW Program.
“Additionally, the Government is working on modernizing the TFW Program with a new foreign labour stream for Agriculture and Fish & Seafood Processing, as announced in Budget 2022,” the minister said.