How Not To Fill A Labour Shortage

New Challenges for Employers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Since we last posted about the Temporary Foreign Worker Program ("TWFP") here and here, the federal government has, in the face of political pressure, introduced significant changes to the program. Employers now face greater challenges and cost in addressing labour shortages through the use of temporary foreign workers ("TFWs").

First, employers are now subject to a cap on the proportion of their workforce which can be filled by low wage TFWs. A "low wage" job is any job which pays below the provincial or territorial median wage. Employers with ten or more employees can employ only 10% of their workforce  as low wage TFWs. Those employers which currently employ more than 10% of their workforce as low wage TFWs are capped at 30% or their current level (whichever is lower); this cap will be reduced to 20% beginning July 1, 2015, and further reduced to 10% on July 1, 2016.