Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre and Shadow Minister for Immigration Michelle Rempel Garner announced a plan to abolish the Temporary Foreign Worker program and stop the issuance of new permits.Poilievre said the Liberal government, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, has failed to meet its immigration targets while at the same time issuing a record number of temporary work permits. He argued that the program harms Canadian workers by suppressing wages and limiting opportunities.According to the Conservatives, recent labour data shows a 7.4% rise in Employment Insurance requests between March and June. Nearly 400,000 Canadians have been unemployed for over two years, a level not seen since 1998 outside of the pandemic. Youth employment is also reported to be at its lowest in more than 25 years..The Conservatives highlighted Tim Hortons as an example of a company that has significantly increased its use of temporary foreign workers, with numbers rising more than one thousand percent in four years. Rempel Garner said this trend has made it more difficult for young Canadians to gain work experience and pay for education.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.Carney’s 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.The plan announced by Poilievre and Rempel Garner would permanently end the program, with the exception of a separate system for agricultural jobs that are considered difficult to fill. A transition period of up to five years would be provided in regions with very low unemployment, but no new permits would be granted.
