Changes for Canada Work Permits under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program were announced by Canadian Government and those will take an effect on October 28, 2024 & November 8
The proposed changes would both strengthen and expand levels of protection available to workers; better safeguard program integrity; and contribute toward enabling the participation of Canadian workers.
Employees from abroad need to be sponsored by companies under the program, and their employers will have to adhere to new regulations if they want-to continue.
The reforms, and their implications on employers, foreign workers & the Canadian labor market are discussed in this article.
Effective October 28, 2024: New Business Legitimacy Requirements
Effective Oct. 28, 2024: Employers will not be able to use attestations from accountants or lawyers as proof of the legitimate operation of a business.
As an alternative to these checks, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program will use agreements on information sharing with province and territorial authorities and leverage already existing employer registries for such verification of business legitimacy.
With these reforms, the intent is to eliminate misuse and fraud in the program by limiting access to only genuine employers with authentic job offers for foreign workers.
Effective November 8, 2024: Higher Wage Thresholds for High-Wage Stream Jobs
Foreign workers who enter Canada through the high-wage stream will have to be paid a minimum of 20% above the median wage in effect for their respective province or territory.
This translates to a wage hike of $5 to $8 an hour, location dependent.
Positions that do not reach this wage ceiling will be reassigned to the low-wage stream category, which has more stringent regulations with various additional commitments now requiring employers to comply.
The goal of the wage adjustment is to minimise foreign labour dependency by making more employers inclined towards hiring indigenous workers.
Based on the higher wage criteria, 34,000 of those jobs are projected to move from the high wage stream into low wage stream.
And depending on labour market conditions and the new program policy, this trend also represents 20,000 fewer approvals through the TFW Program overall.
Stricter Rules for Employers in the Low-Wage Stream
There are already a number of tough employer obligations attached to the low-wage stream that includes you:
Transportation and Housing: Businesses have to provide return transport for employees to their country of residence and guarantee or arrange proper housing.
Other Recruitment: The employer is required to do two more types of recruitment to attract Canadian workers with relevant skill sets and experience.
CAP ON HIRING: Employers in non-essential sectors must limit the number of TFWs they hire to no more than 10% of their overall workforce (with some exceptions for high-demand sectors, which include agriculture and health care)
Unemployment Rate: The LMIA processing will not be allowed for areas identified as CMAs of Canada with a 6% unemployment rate or more regarding lower wage positions.
The new stipulations are intended to limit dependence on low-skill workers from abroad and give priority access to those jobs to Canadians.
Unemployment Statistics
Here are the new unemployment rate numbers in Canada.
Youth Unemployment: The youth unemployment rate was 12.875 in September 2024 compared to the national figure of 6.5 or more than double the figure for national average
Unemployment rates for Indigenous workers: In 2023, the unemployment rate for Indigenous peoples was 7.7%, compared with just 4.5% among non-Indigenous Canadians aged 25-54.
Disability Status: In 2022, the employment–population ratio for people without disabilities was 80.1 percent, compared with 65.1 percent for those with disabilities
The goal is to help employers access these under-utilised talent pools in order to alleviate the reliance on temporary foreign workers.
CFIB supports the goals behind the TFW Program reforms to increase participation of Canadians in the labour force while preventing foreign workers from being brought over unless it is vital.
Impact on Employers and Workers
These changes on the TFW program will most probably impact how both employers and the workers work.
Increased Minimum Wage Thresholds Wuhan For Employers: The employers in the high wage stream would, therefore, be forced to pay more wages so as to meet up with the new money demands, and these would reduce their profits.
Less access to the program: This paper has noted that stricter measures may be placed on the low-wage stream that will result in decreased LMIA approvals in sectors of not high demand.
This medium, he believes, will compel employers in Canada to hire a more diverse group — domestic hiring.
These changes to the TFW Program are effective for October 28, 2024 and November 8, 2024, and will demonstrate the Government of Canada wishes to balance the assessment of the market’s need for workers while protecting a worker.
That is why the government is trying to limit the usage of the TFW Program and pay more attention to the domestic talent through raising the wages that are necessary to meet, enforcing higher requirements for employers and providing more attention to the program.
These reforms are part of an overall trend towards building a more resilient labour market in which relatively disadvantaged groups such as young people, Indigenous people, and people with disabilities, can find suitable employment.
Overtime, the extant dynamic in the Canadian economy will be closely observed by the federal government and more fine-tuning done where necessary as a means of ensuring that the TFW program is free from compromise on fair and ethical practices.
Subsequently, employers need to respond much faster in order not to fall short of these new rules, while on the other hand domestic and foreign employees are likely to have increased labour protection.
The Government of Canada has made it clear: as a result, only the employers with exigent human resource requirements and an ability to abide by the rights of the TFWs will be eligible for accessing the program in the near future.
Stricter Canada Work Permit Rules Effective October 28
Changes for Canada Work Permits under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program were announced by Canadian Government and those will take an effect on October 28, 2024 & November 8
The proposed changes would both strengthen and expand levels of protection available to workers; better safeguard program integrity; and contribute toward enabling the participation of Canadian workers.
Employees from abroad need to be sponsored by companies under the program, and their employers will have to adhere to new regulations if they want-to continue.
The reforms, and their implications on employers, foreign workers & the Canadian labor market are discussed in this article.
Effective October 28, 2024: New Business Legitimacy Requirements
Effective Oct. 28, 2024: Employers will not be able to use attestations from accountants or lawyers as proof of the legitimate operation of a business.
As an alternative to these checks, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program will use agreements on information sharing with province and territorial authorities and leverage already existing employer registries for such verification of business legitimacy.
With these reforms, the intent is to eliminate misuse and fraud in the program by limiting access to only genuine employers with authentic job offers for foreign workers.
Effective November 8, 2024: Higher Wage Thresholds for High-Wage Stream Jobs
Foreign workers who enter Canada through the high-wage stream will have to be paid a minimum of 20% above the median wage in effect for their respective province or territory.
This translates to a wage hike of $5 to $8 an hour, location dependent.
Positions that do not reach this wage ceiling will be reassigned to the low-wage stream category, which has more stringent regulations with various additional commitments now requiring employers to comply.
The goal of the wage adjustment is to minimise foreign labour dependency by making more employers inclined towards hiring indigenous workers.
Based on the higher wage criteria, 34,000 of those jobs are projected to move from the high wage stream into low wage stream.
And depending on labour market conditions and the new program policy, this trend also represents 20,000 fewer approvals through the TFW Program overall.
Stricter Rules for Employers in the Low-Wage Stream
There are already a number of tough employer obligations attached to the low-wage stream that includes you:
Transportation and Housing: Businesses have to provide return transport for employees to their country of residence and guarantee or arrange proper housing.
Other Recruitment: The employer is required to do two more types of recruitment to attract Canadian workers with relevant skill sets and experience.
CAP ON HIRING: Employers in non-essential sectors must limit the number of TFWs they hire to no more than 10% of their overall workforce (with some exceptions for high-demand sectors, which include agriculture and health care)
Unemployment Rate: The LMIA processing will not be allowed for areas identified as CMAs of Canada with a 6% unemployment rate or more regarding lower wage positions.
The new stipulations are intended to limit dependence on low-skill workers from abroad and give priority access to those jobs to Canadians.
Unemployment Statistics
Here are the new unemployment rate numbers in Canada.
Youth Unemployment: The youth unemployment rate was 12.875 in September 2024 compared to the national figure of 6.5 or more than double the figure for national average
Unemployment rates for Indigenous workers: In 2023, the unemployment rate for Indigenous peoples was 7.7%, compared with just 4.5% among non-Indigenous Canadians aged 25-54.
Disability Status: In 2022, the employment–population ratio for people without disabilities was 80.1 percent, compared with 65.1 percent for those with disabilities
The goal is to help employers access these under-utilised talent pools in order to alleviate the reliance on temporary foreign workers.
CFIB supports the goals behind the TFW Program reforms to increase participation of Canadians in the labour force while preventing foreign workers from being brought over unless it is vital.
Impact on Employers and Workers
These changes on the TFW program will most probably impact how both employers and the workers work.
Increased Minimum Wage Thresholds Wuhan For Employers: The employers in the high wage stream would, therefore, be forced to pay more wages so as to meet up with the new money demands, and these would reduce their profits.
Less access to the program: This paper has noted that stricter measures may be placed on the low-wage stream that will result in decreased LMIA approvals in sectors of not high demand.
This medium, he believes, will compel employers in Canada to hire a more diverse group — domestic hiring.
These changes to the TFW Program are effective for October 28, 2024 and November 8, 2024, and will demonstrate the Government of Canada wishes to balance the assessment of the market’s need for workers while protecting a worker.
That is why the government is trying to limit the usage of the TFW Program and pay more attention to the domestic talent through raising the wages that are necessary to meet, enforcing higher requirements for employers and providing more attention to the program.
These reforms are part of an overall trend towards building a more resilient labour market in which relatively disadvantaged groups such as young people, Indigenous people, and people with disabilities, can find suitable employment.
Overtime, the extant dynamic in the Canadian economy will be closely observed by the federal government and more fine-tuning done where necessary as a means of ensuring that the TFW program is free from compromise on fair and ethical practices.
Subsequently, employers need to respond much faster in order not to fall short of these new rules, while on the other hand domestic and foreign employees are likely to have increased labour protection.
The Government of Canada has made it clear: as a result, only the employers with exigent human resource requirements and an ability to abide by the rights of the TFWs will be eligible for accessing the program in the near future.
Author: Sam Gill
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