Question Period Note: Labour Shortages

Immigration responses to labour shortages across Canada

• Permanent and temporary immigration continue to be driving forces in supporting Canada's labour market needs and economic growth.
• The Government is aware of persisting labour shortages and is taking measures to address these challenges.
• For example, in 2025, to meet acute labour market needs, IRCC will conduct category-based invitation rounds that prioritize candidates with work experience in specific in-demand occupations.
• In the context of economic uncertainty created by US tariff measures, the Government of Canada will continue to monitor the Canadian economy and labour market, and make the necessary adjustments to our immigration programs.

• The immigration system supports the development of a strong and prosperous Canada, in which the benefits of immigration are shared across all regions. IRCC administers a range of programs for temporary and permanent residents seeking to contribute to the Canadian labour market, and fill persistent labour needs, including in critical sectors such as healthcare and construction.

Labour Shortages

Job vacancies, fourth quarter of 2024
• Job vacancies were virtually unchanged in the fourth quarter at 547,800, following nine consecutive quarters of decline since peaking at 983,600 in the second quarter of 2022.
• The US tariff measures on Canada will create economic instability and impact national and regional labour markets in the long-term. Immigration levers will need to adjust to minimize disruption to the Canadian economy and support Canada’s evolving workforce strategy.

Permanent Resident Programs

• Canada has a suite of economic immigration programs, each with their own requirements and objectives that allow for the selection of immigrants, on the basis of their ability to become economically established in Canada.

Express Entry
• Express Entry is the electronic application management system for the three federal high skilled economic immigration programs (Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Trades Program) and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program.
o Foreign nationals express their interest in immigrating to Canada by submitting a profile; eligible candidates enter the Express Entry pool and are assigned a score based on their profile information. Top-ranked candidates in the pool are invited to apply for permanent residence through regularly-held rounds of invitations.
• In June 2023, category-based selection launched in Express Entry, allowing better targeting of invitations to candidates who meet specified economic goals. Category-based invitation rounds add to general (i.e., based on rank in the pool) and program specific rounds, making Express Entry more responsive to Canada’s changing economic and labour market needs.

• In 2025, to meet Francophone immigration targets and meet acute labour market needs, IRCC will conduct category-based invitation rounds that prioritize candidates with strong French language proficiency, or work experience in the following categories:
o Healthcare and social services occupations, such as family physicians, nurse practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, psychologists and chiropractors;
o Trades occupations, such as carpenters, plumbers and contractors; and,
o Education occupations, such as teachers, child care educators and instructors of persons with disabilities.

Provincial Nominee Program
• The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is a jointly administered economic immigration program which supports provinces and territories (PTs) in meeting their targeted and evolving labour market needs and enables them to design targeted economic immigration streams in their respective jurisdictions.
• The PNP has been the main source of economic immigration for nine of the 11 participating jurisdictions from 2020 to November 30, 2024. The program is a major contributor to increasing Francophone admissions outside Quebec and directly supports the French-speaking labour force in communities across Canada. In 2024, 3,650 Francophones were admitted through the PNP.

Atlantic Immigration Program
• The Atlantic Immigration Program has brought over 7,923 principal applicants and their families to the Atlantic region in 2024 (as of December 31, 2024). It aims to attract skilled immigrants to Atlantic Canada to address demographic and economic needs, and to increase retention in the region. The program allows Atlantic provinces to prioritize sectors with in demand labour market needs.
• Since transitioning to a permanent program, over 3,600 employers have been using the Atlantic Immigration Program to fill their labour market vacancies and have presented over 13,700 job offers to skilled foreign nationals (as of December 31, 2024).

Rural and Francophone Community Immigration Pilots

• Announced January 30th, 2025, IRCC established two new Community Immigration Pilots to replace the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, which sunset on August 31st, 2024.
• The Rural Community Immigration Pilot offers pathways to permanent residence for newcomers addressing critical labour market shortages and supporting rural and remote communities. The complementary Francophone Community Immigration Pilot aims to increase the number of French-speaking newcomers settling in Francophone minority communities outside of Quebec and supporting the economic development of Francophone minority communities, while also helping to restore their demographic weight.

• 18 communities across Canada were selected to participate in these pilots.
o The 12 participating communities in the Rural Community Immigration Pilot include:
 BC: West Kootenay, Peace Liard, North Okanagan-Shuswap
 AB: Claresholm
 SK: Moose Jaw
 MB: Brandon, Altona/Rhineland, Steinbach
 ON: Thunder Bay, North Bay, Sault Ste Marie
 NS: Pictou County
o The 4 participating communities in the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot include:
 BC: Kelowna
 MB: St Pierre-Jolys
 ON: Superior East Region
 NB: Acadian Peninsula
o Timmins, ON and Sudbury, ON will be participating in both pilots.

Temporary Worker Programs and Facilitation

• Temporary workers can come to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP).
• The TFWP is jointly administered by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), which processes the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), and IRCC, which is responsible for work permit issuance.
• The TFWP helps employers fill labour shortages where Canadian citizens or permanent residents are not available. Under this program, foreign nationals can only work for the employer indicated on their work permit.
• The IMP is administered solely by IRCC, and facilitates the entry of workers without an LMIA to support Canada’s broader economic, social, and cultural objectives, or reciprocal opportunities for Canadians and permanent residents abroad. IMP work permits can be employer-specific or open, meaning that the foreign national can work for virtually any employer, in any occupation.
• IRCC continues to prioritize work permit applications in essential sectors such as agriculture, food processing, and health care, to ensure that the labour needs of these sectors continue to be supported.
• Strategic measures to help fill labour shortages and skills gaps under the IMP include:
o Innovation Stream
 This enables innovative Canadian employers selected by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada under the Global Hypergrowth Project (GHP) to hire highly talented individuals. The stream is in place for a 2-year pilot period until March 2026, and will offer an LMIA exemption for foreign nationals with a job offer in a TEER 0-3 occupation from a GHP company.

Reduction of Temporary Resident Volumes
• The 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan included the first-ever temporary resident targets for temporary workers and international students. For workers, inclusive of the TFWP and IMP, the targets are set at 367,750 for 2025, 210,700 for 2026, and 237,700 for 2027.
• These targets are reflective of the recent changes to the TFWP and IMP to improve alignment with economic/labour market objectives, and support the objective to reduce the temporary resident population to 5% of Canada’s overall population by the end of 2026.
• In 2024, ESDC implemented several changes to the TFWP, primarily to tighten access to the Low-Wage stream. Key sectors facing shortages, namely healthcare, construction, and food security/processing sectors, are exempted from these changes. Key program changes include a refusal to process (RTP) on LMIA applications for positions in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher, reducing the proportion of low-wage temporary workers that can be employed at a worksite to 10% (from 20%), and limiting their maximum employment duration to one year (from two years). ESDC also increased the wage threshold for the High-Wage stream to 20% above the provincial-territorial median hourly wage, resulting in an increase in positions that would be covered by the more strictly managed Low-Wage stream.
• In parallel, IRCC announced several policy changes to recalibrate the IMP and strengthen the integrity of the immigration system, including:
o Restricting open work permit access for family members to 1) spouses of students in a Master’s program of 16 months or longer, doctoral programs, certain professional programs, and select pilot programs; and 2) spouses of high-skilled workers employed in a management or professional occupation, or a job linked to sectors with labour shortages or government priorities and the principal foreign national has 16 months or more remaining on the work permit;
o Tightening Post Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) program eligibility to include language requirements and to better align with labour market needs;
o revoking – ahead of expiry - a temporary public policy that allowed visitors to apply for a work permit from within Canada.

Measures Supporting Labour Market Integration

Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) and Settlement Supports

• IRCC is working closely with Employment and Social Development Canada as the federal lead on the foreign credential recognition program, as well as with provinces and territories, to make collective advancements on foreign credential recognition in Canada.
o The Department continues to support provincial and territorial efforts to coordinate the FCR and immigration selection process for newcomers through their PNP and the AIP.
• Immigration programs are complemented by IRCC-funded pre-arrival and in-Canada settlement services to help permanent residents with their longer-term integration in Canada. Services provided through the Settlement Program provide clients with skills and support to help them prepare for, and connect with, the Canadian labour market. This includes employment counselling, soft-skills training, and job bridging programs.
• The Settlement Program’s supports for FCR include sharing information with newcomers about the FCR process, facilitating alignment of the immigration and licensing systems, and funding a broad range of supports to help newcomers integrate in the labour market. Through settlement programming, IRCC funds services that provide employment supports (e.g. career counselling, networking, learning about education and credential recognition, etc.) to help internationally trained professionals successfully settle and integrate in their communities.

o Changes made to post-graduation work permit requirements will help ensure that international graduates fill in-demand positions more efficiently and, as a result, better contribute to the Canadian economy.
o IRCC will continue to leverage regional economic programs, such as the Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Program, and the Rural and Francophone Community Immigration Pilots, help to spread the benefits of economic immigration programs across Canada and fill in demand labour market needs that are critical to each jurisdiction.

o Both the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the International Mobility Program continue to provide an important source of labour for employers facing critical labour shortages, which, in turn, helps Canadian businesses thrive.