Question Period Note: TEMPORARY WORKER FACILITATION

Facilitation measures for temporary workers during the pandemic.

• IRCC is facilitating the safe arrival of temporary workers from overseas and continues to process work permit applications while prioritizing resources towards in-demand occupations like health care, agriculture, food, and seafood production.

• IRCC has supported temporary workers already in Canada through a number of measures, such as allowing them to switch employers quickly once they’ve found a new job, and permitting those with visitor status to apply for a work permit without having to leave Canada.

Work permit processing timelines have improved significantly since the onset of the pandemic. The Department is working towards achieving the two month processing commitment for clients abroad. Applications from within Canada, including for work permit renewals, are being processed on time, that is within four months.

If pressed:
• In addition, a one-time temporary pathway to permanent residence for essential workers was introduced in response to the pandemic to allow those employed in our hospitals and long-term care homes and on the frontlines of other essential sectors to apply for permanent residence. Intake under this measure closed on November 5.

• There are two temporary work programs in Canada:
o The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), is administered by Employment and Social Development Canada who process the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), with IRCC being responsible for the work permit issuance. It helps employers who are unable to fill labour market needs where Canadians or permanent residents are not available.
o The International Mobility Program (IMP) is administered by IRCC, and facilitates the entry of workers to support Canada’s broader economic, social and or cultural objectives, e.g. foreign nationals under international trade agreements, or where the work creates reciprocal opportunities for Canadians and permanent residents to work abroad, such as International Experience Canada, or for international students as post graduate work permit holders. (LMIA exempt)
• Temporary foreign workers coming under those programs play an important role in many sectors of the Canadian economy, including those related to food production. In 2019, IRCC issued approximately 405,000 work permits to temporary foreign workers across all sectors. This was a 20% increase compared to 2018. In 2020, work permits issued dropped to approximately 211,000, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From January to August 2021, IRCC has issued approximately 144,400 work permits. While the overall number of work permits issued in 2020 and 2021 decreased, the arrival of agricultural workers remained relatively stable as compared to previous years. This is significant because the arrival of agricultural workers in March through June is critical for Canada’s growing and harvesting seasons.

• Approximately 56,000 workers enter Canada each year to support crop planting and harvesting. Key source countries are Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica and ten other Caribbean countries. An additional 4,000 workers support food processing, with workers largely coming from China (fish and seafood) and the Philippines (meat).

• While agriculture represents a small share of all work permits issued, a lack of workers in this sector affects businesses and Canada’s food security. As a result, both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada are prioritizing the processing of work permits and Labour Market Impact Assessment applications (respectively) for the agriculture sector.

• Despite COVID-19 disruptions to processing networks, IRCC continued to accept applications for new work permits, or for their renewal. Applications submitted within Canada are now being processed within the established four month timeline and the Department is working to improve processing timelines for applications made overseas, which currently stands at 130 days instead of the 60 day service standard.

• For temporary workers already in Canada, IRCC has introduced several measures to help clients affected by the disruption in services and travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• For example, IRCC has taken steps to encourage and support foreign nationals eligible to do so to apply for extensions (e.g., by providing more time to provide documentation or to complete biometrics). Foreign workers who submit an extension application benefit from “maintained status”, which enables individuals to remain legally in Canada while awaiting a decision on their application. Moreover, temporary workers who remain in the same job can continue to work while on maintained status.

• During the Covid pandemic IRCC implemented targeted measures to ensure foreign nationals already in Canada and who have a valid job offer can work. These measures remain in effect;
o As of May 12, 2020, IRCC established a process that allows temporary workers who are in Canada with an employer-specific work permit to quickly change employers when they find a new job.

o As of August 24, 2020, another measure was put in place to allow visitors who are currently in Canada with valid job offers to apply for an employer-specific work permit without leaving the country. This measure facilitates temporary residents who would like to contribute their labour and skills to Canada’s recovery from the pandemic and employers who continue to face difficulties in finding workers. To lesser extent, this measure diverts traffic from the land border where some visitors would have sought to apply for work permits. This public policy was extended and expanded to allow visitors in Canada up until February 28, 2022 to apply for an employer-specific work permit from within Canada.

• In response to the pandemic, IRCC launched a new, one-time pathway to permanent residence for essential temporary workers and recent international graduates living and working in Canada.
• The Temporary Pathway to Permanent Residence was very well received and saw over 82,000 applications submitted to the Department prior to its closure on November 5, 2021.
o over 6,500 applications were accepted in the temporary workers in health care stream;
o 30,000 applications were received for the temporary workers in other selected essential occupations stream; and,
o over 47,000 applications were received for the international students who graduated from a Canadian institution stream.

• To promote Canada’s official languages, 3 additional streams with no intake caps were dedicated to French-speaking and bilingual candidates.
• This new pathway complemented existing pathways, including the Agri-Food Pilot, launched on May 15, 2020 which offers pathways to workers in the agriculture and agri-food sectors. Other programs include the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, the Atlantic Immigration Pilot and the Provincial Nominee Program.

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