Conservative shadow immigration minister Michelle Rempel Garner has followed through on the party's promises at a press conference Wednesday to "name and shame" companies that were "abusing" the temporary foreign worker program.In a post on X on Thursday, Rempel Garner stated that Ottawa currently faces 47,000 unemployed residents, while across Ontario, nearly 200,000 young people are out of work and struggling to find opportunities. Yet despite this, a Mucho Burrito franchise is trying to fill a position with a temporary foreign worker at $36 an hour. "A Mucho Burrito in Carney's backyard wants to fill a job with a temporary foreign worker for $36/hr, and he's going to let them! End the TFW program, now," said Rempel Garner in the post..This marks the 10th day of the shadow immigration minister's series of posts showcasing different businesses that are paying significant amounts for TFW's to work at their business. The series has drawn attention to restaurants, retail outlets, and service industry employers who are offering substantial hourly pay yet still bypass local workers in favour of bringing in TFWs. By steadily documenting case after case, the shadow minister is building a narrative that the program has shifted far from its original intent of addressing genuine labour shortages. Instead, it’s increasingly being portrayed as a tool for employers to sidestep Canadian job seekers, even in communities with high unemployment levels.."Not long ago, young Canadians could gain vital skills in entry-level jobs, earn enough to pay for school and build a future," said Rempel Garner in a statement on Wednesday. "In return, employers built a skilled domestic workforce. But the Liberals broke that deal."Government statistics indicate that temporary foreign workers now make up nearly two percent of the private sector workforce, with many earning below the median income. The Conservatives said this puts additional pressure on wages during what some economists describe as recession-level unemployment.The federal government issued 105,000 new permits in the first half of 2025, surpassing its stated annual cap of 82,000. The Conservatives said this would set a new record in the press conference on Wednesday.In the same press conference the Conservatives called for the federal government to cancel the temporary foreign worker program as a whole.
