Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the government will be reducing the number of temporary 'low-wage' foreign workers in Canada. This decision comes amid Canada's high rates of unemployment.
While addressing the Liberal Cabinet in Halifax, PM Trudeau announced - “We are tightening the rules and restricting eligibility to reduce the number of low-wage, temporary foreign workers in Canada".
Taking to social media platform X, the Canadian leader said that Canada will be "reducing the number of low-wage, temporary foreign workers. The labour market has changed. Now is the time for our businesses to invest in Canadian workers and youth."
The Canadian prime minister added that certain exceptions will be put into place for industries such as healthcare, construction and food security.
This new rule will be brought into effect from September 26 onwards. The Canadian government will now be refusing applications for low-wage temporary foreign workers in areas where the unemployment rate is six percent or higher.
As per an official press release from the Employment and Social Development Ministry, a 10 per cent cap will also be enforced on companies and employers looking to hire foreign workers.
Trudeau Govt Announces Major Immigration Changes
As per the official statement from the government, the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, designed during the COVID-19 pandemic to combat the labour shortage, will now have certain restrictions in place.
As per Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, the federal government is taking this action in order to "weed out misuse and fraud related to the foreign workers program".
The following changes will be implemented from September 26 onwards -
Canada to refuse all applications for low-wage workers in areas with six percent or higher rates of unemployment.
Employers will be allowed to hire no more than 10% of their total workforce through the TFW Program.
The maximum duration of employment for workers hired through the Low-Wage stream will be reduced from two years to one year.
Exceptions will be granted for seasonal and non-seasonal jobs in food security sectors (primary agriculture, food processing and fish processing), as well as construction and healthcare.
"The changes we are making today will prioritize Canadians workers and ensures Canadians can trust the program is meeting the needs of our economy," stated Minister Boissonnault.
The Canadian government has added that it will be monitoring the labour markets over the next 90 days and will then accordingly review the if more changes are needed in the TFW program and the High-Wage Stream.
Along with this, the country is also planning to cut down the number of temporary residents from the current 6.2 percent of the population to five percent.
Ahead of this announcement, the federal government imposed a two-year cap on new international student visas as well. In 2021, the post-graduation work permit (PGWP) for international students was also scrapped.
Changes To Impact Indians
Over the past few years, the Trudeau administration has been under fire over high rates of unemployment, the ongoing housing crisis and other problems.
Taking action, Trudeau announced the reduction in low-wage temporary workers, which is expected to impact Indians looking to move to Canada and those already living in the country.
As per the Ministry of External Affairs, there are over 28 lakh Indians (28,75,954), including 18,59,680 Persons of Indian Origin living in Canada.
Unemployment Crisis In Canada
Government records show a sharp rise in the intake of foreign workers in the low-wage stream. As per official data, the intake stood at 83,643 temporary workers in 2023, as compared to 28.121 in 2019.
Furthermore, the unemployment rate in Canada has been increasing since April 2023 by 1.3 percent over the period. By June 2024, Canada reported over 1.4 million unemployed people, which was an increase of 42,000 people as compared to May 2024.
