Question Period Note: TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS

Q1 – What is the Government doing to protect temporary foreign workers? Q2 – How is the Government addressing labour shortages? Q3 – What is the Government doing to facilitate transitions to permanent residency? Q4 – What is the Government’s response to the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery preliminary findings? Q5 – What is the Government doing to ensure that visa and work permit applications are processed in a timely manner?

R.1 - While the vast majority of our farmers are known to care for the well-being of their workers, it is essential that every foreign worker find themselves in a working and living environment that is safe, healthy and dignified. The Government is working in partnership with provinces and territories to ensure the continued improvement of the program to better support and protect temporary foreign workers.
Budget 2023 reaffirmed our commitment to a safe and healthy work environment where employers are held accountable for the treatment of workers by providing $48 million to improve employer compliance. The Government also introduced open work permits for vulnerable workers for temporary foreign workers who are being abused or at risk of being abused in relation to their job in Canada. To better protect workers and address concerns of wage suppression, employers will be required as of January 1, 2024, to annually review temporary foreign workers’ wages to ensure they reflect increases to prevailing wage rates. R.2 - The Government is implementing a three-year Recognized Employer Pilot, under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, to test streamlined processes, be more responsive lo labour market shortages and to reduce the administrative burden for repeat employers who demonstrate a history of program compliance.
The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot provides a pathway to permanent residence for experienced, non-seasonal workers in the agricultural and food processing sector. This Pilot was recently extended until May 2025.
Budget 2022 announced a $48.2 million commitment by the Government to implement a new foreign labour program for agriculture and fish processing, tailored to the unique needs of these employers and workers. Consultations with stakeholders on this commitment launched this spring. R.3 - Facilitating transitions from temporary worker to permanent residency is a dominant feature of Canada’s immigration system and the Government has already taken action to expand pathways to permanent residence for temporary foreign workers in the agricultural sector.

Specifically, the Government has increased allocations in Provincial Nominee Program immigration streams and introduced the Atlantic Immigration Program, Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, Agri-Food Immigration Pilot and a new category-based selection stream under express entry. In 2022, more than 105,000 individuals transitioned to permanent residence. R.4 - The Government of Canada acknowledges the report from the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur and we are always open to recommendations to better protect workers, including temporary foreign workers.

All workers in Canada deserve safe, healthy, and dignified working conditions. Mistreatment or abuse of temporary foreign workers – or any worker – is unacceptable and can never be tolerated. Ensuring the health and safety of temporary foreign workers and that they are free from any form of abuse while in Canada is a key priority. R.5 - The Government understands the importance of processing applications efficiently to meet labour needs. We are constantly looking for opportunities for how to improve service offerings and client service, and how we can leverage technology to reduce processing times and wait times.

The recently published report from the Strategic Immigration Review conducted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) affirms the need to offer a more welcoming experience to newcomers, including by reducing processing times. The Government of Canada is working to deliver a pleasant and user-friendly experience that is modern and efficient, fair and transparent, predictable, and timely.

The Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Program aims to assist employers in filling their temporary skills and labour requirements when qualified Canadians and permanent residents are not available. The TFW Program is jointly administered by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Agricultural employers are the highest volume users of the program. Most TFWs in the sector are hired in low-wage occupations such as general farm workers, industrial butchers and fish plant workers. There are different streams under the TFW Program which have different requirements and rules, but primary agriculture broadly uses the Seasonal Agriculture Worker Program (SAWP) stream, while food and beverage processing uses the low-wage stream.
The TFW Program requires employers to obtain a positive or neutral Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) which confirms that the employment of a TFW does not have a negative impact on the Canadian labour market. The two key components required for hiring through the TFW Program are (1) LMIA issued to employers by ESDC and (2) eligibility to receive a work permit as determined by IRCC.

Addressing labour shortages:
- The Government has committed to developing a sector-specific Agricultural Labour Strategy.
- ESDC launched the Workforce Solutions Road Map in April 2022, which temporarily increased the TFW hiring cap to 30% cap for low-wage employers in food manufacturing. However, on March 21, 2024, it was announced that the cap would be adjusted back to 20% as of May 1, 2024.
- The SAWP includes a process for the transfer of workers between employers.
- Minimum job advertising requirements for all positions in the primary agriculture sector were suspended until June 2024.
- The Government is building a stronger workforce by expanding pathways to permanent residency:
o Agri-Food Pilot – Launched in 2020 in response to identified, long-term labour shortages for some occupations in meat processing, greenhouse production, and livestock raising industries to allow employers with TFWs that return for year-round work (e.g., at mushrooms farms or some processing facilities) to gain permanent residence. The Agri-Food Pilot was extended for an additional 2 years and will run until May 14, 2025.
o Category-Based Selection under Express Entry – In February 2024, new Express Entry rounds were announced to respond to changing economic and labour market needs within Canada. Agriculture and agri-food occupations remain a priority.
o Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) – Under PNPs, Provinces and Territories (PTs) have the ability to create dedicated streams based on their economic needs.
o The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot was launched in 2019 as a community-driven program designed to spread the benefits of economic immigration to smaller communities by creating a path to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers who want to work and live in one of the participating communities.
o The Atlantic Immigration Program was launched as an employer-driven program in January 2022 and aims to attract skilled immigrants to Atlantic Canada to address demographic and economic needs, as well as continue to increase retention in the region.

• A Recognized Employer Pilot project launched in August 2023 will allow eligible employers to gain access to LMIAs that are valid for up to 36 months. Primary agriculture employers were able to apply starting in September 2023, all other employers became eligible on January 8, 2024.
  Worker Protections:
• Budget 2023 provided $48 million in funding over 2 years for ESDC to improve the employer compliance regime under the TFWP, including more program inspectors and the maintenance of the worker protection tip line.
• The Government has committed to establishing minimum federal housing standards and requirements for TFWs.
• In 2022, regulatory amendments were made to the Immigration Refugee Protection Regulations to ensure TFWs are aware of their rights while in Canada.
• In 2019, The Government also introduced open work permits for vulnerable workers, for temporary foreign workers who are being abused or at risk of being abused in relation to their job in Canada.

The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery:
- The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur completed a tour of Canada in August 2023 and met with workers, Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program officials at ESDC, along with officials from IRCC.
- The goal of the visit was to assess Canada’s efforts to prevent and address contemporary forms of slavery, including forced labour, child labour, domestic servitude, debt bondage, labour exploitation, and sexual exploitation within its territory and abroad, in order to identify good practices and ongoing challenges, and present constructive recommendations to address the challenges he observed.
- The Special Rapporteur outlined his preliminary findings and was critical of the TFW Program and likened it to a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” The Special Rapporteur’s final report is expected to be published in July 2024.

• Domestic and international workers are essential to the production of safe and reliable food in this country. The Government is committed to strengthening the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to improve worker health and safety while helping employers meet their workforce needs.
• We launched a Recognized Employer Pilot project to be more responsive to labour market shortages and reduce the administrative burden for repeat employers who meet the highest standards of program compliance.
• Budget 2023 included an investment of $48 million to improve the employer compliance regime under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, including more program inspectors and the maintenance of the worker protection tip line.
• The Government has also taken action to expand pathways to permanent residence for temporary foreign workers in the agricultural sector. Specifically, we have increased allocations to Provincial Nominee Programs, introduced innovative immigration Pilots, and developed a new category-based selection stream under express entry.