Labour Shortage: Canada Introduces New Measures For Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Posted 04/05/2022

Canada is currently experiencing a low unemployment rate while having high job vacancies simultaneously, and as a response to the nationwide labor shortage, It was recently announced that Canada has introduced new measures to make access to temporary foreign workers much easier for all Canadian employers.

As per the government, there is one solution to help address the labor shortage – and it is to pilot temporary foreign workers to help fill the vacant jobs where there are no Canadians who are available to do the job. As per a government media release, changes that will take effect for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) aim to help Canada build and strengthen its workforce.

Starting immediately. There are a total of five major changes coming under the TFWP:

Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA) will now be valid for 18 months compared to their original 6 months validity. LMIA helps the employer to demonstrate that a foreign worker who is employed in Canada will not have any negative effect on the labor market
High-Wage and Global Talent Stream workers will now have a maximum employment duration of three years from its usual two years. This extension will help workers be eligible for more pathways that will lead them to permanent residency
Seasonal Cap Exemption will now become permanent. This means, there will no longer have a limitation to the number of low-wage positions in the seasonal industries that employers could fill in through the TFWP. In addition to this, the maximum duration of the said positions will now increase to 270 days per year from its usual 180 days.

Effective April 30

For a year, all employers of sectors who have demonstrated their labor shortage will now be allowed to hire up to 30% of their workforce through the TWFP for low-wage positions. Eligible positions include manufacturing, accommodation and food services, construction, hospitals, and nursing and residential care services. An increase of a 10% cap for many employers will also take place as all other employers will be allowed to hire up to 20% of their workforce until further notice.
LMIA’s current policy that automatically refuses LMIA applications for low-wage occupations in the accommodation and food services and retail trade sectors in regions that has a 6% or higher unemployment rate will be ended