Understanding the New Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Some franchises, like other businesses in Canada, have relied on the support of foreign workers to temporarily deal with their labour shortages, where there are no Canadian citizens or permanent residents available. Due to recent major changes in corporate/business immigration law, employers must now reassess their global immigration and mobility strategies in response to said shortages and to ensure full compliance with Canadian laws and regulations.

On June 20, 2014, the Ministers of Employment and Social Development ("ESDC") and Citizenship and Immigration ("CIC") introduced an important reform to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program ("TFWP"). Said reform changed the landscape for a number of Canadian employers by restricting their access to the TFWP. The reform has been accompanied by a stronger enforcement, strengthened penalties for non-compliance and a structural and more comprehensive reorganization of the immigration program.