The federal programs under which Canadian farms can access a seasonal labour pool from foreign countries will be mostly exempt from a crackdown on the government’s temporary foreign worker program (TFWP).
The government on Tuesday announced reforms to the TFWP in the wake of recent news reports suggesting certain companies may have overstepped the program’s intent and sourced foreign labour only as a cost-cutting measure.
“The purpose of the (TFWP) is to help fill genuine and acute labour needs and we have been reviewing the program to ensure that goal is met and Canadian workers are never displaced,” federal Human Resources Minister Diane Finley said in a release.
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“These reforms will require that greater efforts be made to recruit and train Canadians to fill available jobs,” Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said in the same release. “They will also help ensure the (TFWP) is only used as intended — to fill acute skills shortages on a temporary basis.”
That said, the government emphasized its Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and “other primary agricultural occupations” will be subject only to one of the planned reforms — namely to “increase the government’s authority to suspend and revoke work permits and LMOs (labour market opinions) if they are being misused.”
LMOs, issued by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), assess an employer’s TFWP application on the basis of the “likely impact that hiring a temporary foreign worker will have on the Canadian labour market.” In some cases, employers have to get an LMO in order to complete a work permit application.
The SAWP and the TFWP’s agricultural stream, however, “will be unaffected by the remaining reforms, as there are proven acute labour shortages in this industry and the unfilled jobs are truly temporary,” the government said Tuesday.
Among the TFWP reforms announced Tuesday affecting non-ag sectors:
- effective immediately, employers will be required to pay temporary foreign workers at the prevailing wage, removing the program’s “wage flexibility;”
- questions will be added to employer LMO applications to ensure the TFWP is “not used to facilitate the outsourcing of Canadian jobs;”
- employers who rely on temporary foreign workers will be required to “have a firm plan in place to transition to a Canadian workforce over time through the LMO process;”
- as per last month’s federal budget, fees will be levied for employers for the processing of LMOs and fees will be increased for work permits, so “taxpayers are no longer subsidizing the costs;” and
- English and French will be identified as “the only languages that can be used as a job requirement.”
The government on Tuesday also slapped an immediate suspension on the Accelerated LMO process it introduced in April last year, in which approved employers could get an LMO within just 10 business days.
The SAWP and agriculture stream were not eligible for Accelerated LMO process, which is now “under consideration to determine whether it is meeting its original objectives,” the government said Tuesday.
The changes pledged Tuesday are expected to ensure that the TFWP “is used only as a last resort,” the government said.
The government added Tuesday that “cross-Canada consultations will be held over the coming months with businesses, industry and trade organizations, unions and others on additional changes to the TFWP.”
Related story:
Federal budget boosts tax breaks to farmers, March 21, 2013
