Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has put tougher restrictions on migrant hiring as new figures showed 766,520 temporary foreign worker permits were issued last year, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “We know it’s time to ease our reliance on foreign workers,” said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault at a press scrum. This number was in addition to 982,880 foreign students able to work in Canada and an immigration quota of 465,000 people. Boissonnault said the new regulations take effect May 1 and exempt farmworkers. “The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is a last resort,” said Boissonnault. “We expect businesses to exhaust every option and work to prioritize workers in Canada before applying for temporary foreign workers.”Current one-year work permits will be reduced to six months. Low-wage migrants hired by restaurants and hotels will be capped at 20% of payroll from the current 30%. Employers applying for work permits will be required to first prove they tried to recruit Canadian citizens and asylum seekers with valid work permits such as Ukrainian refugees. Employers retroactive to January must show proof of annual wage reviews to ensure they are complying with rates for their occupations. The federal minimum wage will rise from $16.65 to $17.30 per hour effective April 1. “The Government of Canada will continue to monitor labour market conditions to ensure the Temporary Foreign Worker Program reflects current economic needs and that Canadians are considered first for job opportunities,” said cabinet. ESDC said in a 2021 report migrant workers might have cost Canadian jobs and wages. It suggested migrant labour had the greatest impact in construction, trucking, beauty salons, restaurants, fish processing and farming, “where foreign workers are willing to work for lower wages than what a Canadian or permanent resident would consider acceptable.”“There is no evidence pointing to a risk for job displacement or wage suppression at the national level in Canada,” said ESDC. “Impacts of the wage program may be significant in sub-labour markets.” ESDC announced in September Canadian government inspectors gave out the highest-ever fines in 2022 — a record $1.54 million — to companies that did not follow the regulations for migrant workers. READ MORE: Almost 100 employers fined $1.54 million for migrant worker violationsFollowing its failure to conduct any spot checks as recently as 2017, thousands of inspections were carried out to ensure compliance with the temporary foreign worker regulations. “Last fiscal year, over 2,100 inspections were completed,” it said.
