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Advocacy Alert: House of Commons Committee Recommends Changes to Temporary Foreign Worker Program
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A House of Commons committee has been tasked with reviewing Canada's controversial Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and has made a wide range of recommendations for changes to the program, including simpler ways for businesses to respond to labour market needs.
The committee released a
report on September 19 outlining 21 recommendations including a call for a detailed review of Canada's current pathways to permanent residency, better skills training, and ensuring the program works for specific sectors.
Highlights of the report include:
- Recommendations to end the rule that forces temporary foreign workers to leave the country after four years
- Recommendations to create a new 'Trusted Employer Program', where employers who have proven their trustworthiness of the program can have applications fast-tracked
- Recommendations to loosen the cap on how many foreign workers businesses can hire
- Recommendations to speed up and reduce hurdles to the Labour Market Impact Assessment process
- Recommendations to restructure the TFWP such that it achieves better overall economic and social benefit for Canadians
Changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program have been promised by the government since it took office last November, and the report is expected to guide upcoming changes. Minister of Immigration, John McCallum, and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, MaryAnn Mihycuk, announced that they would respond to the recommendations within the legislated timeframe of 120 days.
The most recent major changes to the TFWP were introduced by the previous Conservative government in June 2014. This reform changed the landscape for a number of Canadian employers by restricting their access to the program. This was of great concern, and CFA wrote to the government urging that changes to the program be reversed as it is critically important to the operation of many businesses.
CFA is pleased to hear that the federal government understands the need for an overhaul of this program and is eager to hear the government's response to these recommendations. CFA welcomes the recommended changes that contain many steps in the right direction to support employers and improve working conditions for temporary foreign workers.
CFA will keep members informed of further information on this issue as it develops. For more information on other advocacy issues, please contact Samantha Sheppard, Government Relations Specialist at
ssheppard@cfa.ca or 1-800-665-4232 ext. 230.
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