The feds have recently announced they will begin processing visas for low-wage foreign workers who wish to work in Canada in areas where the unemployment rate has dropped below 6%. Reported by CIC News, the feds will begin implementing this on July 10 for its low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applicants under its temporary foreign worker program (TFWP), allowing foreign workers to receive a work permit in eight different cities.These cities include:1. Halifax, NS, which went from an unemployment rate of 6.1% between April and July, to 5.9% in the most recent quarter. .2. Saint John, NB: Its most recent unemployment rate decreased from 6% to 5.9%.3. Fredericton, NB: Its unemployment rate went from 6.5% to 5.3% in June.4. Drummondville QC: It went from a staggering 7.3% unemployment rate to 5.7%..5. Kingston, Ont: now has an unemployment rate of 5.3%, a drop from 6.2%. 6. St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont: Its unemployment rate was most recently recorded as being 5.8%, a decrease from its previous rate of 7.2%.7. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Its current unemployment rate is sitting at 5.6% a decrease from its previously recorded rate of 6%.8. Regina, Saskatchewan: It is currently experiencing an unemployment rate of 5.9% a drop from 6.4%..The application period for TFWP applicants in these cities will last until early October.It will then be reevaluated, and if the unemployment rate rises to over 6%, the program will be closed from accepting any new applicants.The feds state temporary foreign worker (TFW) applicants will not be considered in construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, nursing, childcare, and caregivers, if TFWs occupy 20% or more of these industries. Some of the cities no longer eligible for the low wage TFWP include Saskatoon, Sask, Red Deer, AB, Kamloops BC, and Chilliwack, BC, which all have an unemployment rate exceeding 6%, having grown significantly over the course of three months. The feds first announced they'd be restricting the low-wage stream of temporary foreign worker visas back in August 2024, when they first announced the restriction.
