Foreign Worker Layoffs: How To Ensure Compliance With Immigration Programs When Downsizing

An economic downturn sometimes forces an employer to make difficult decisions to reduce its workforce, which can also affect its temporary foreign workers. The measures chosen by an employer are likely to result in federal and/or provincial legal obligations for that employer.

In this bulletin, we will discuss the obligations to be complied with by an employer hiring foreign workers so as to ensure compliance with immigration laws and programs when downsizing.¹ Other obligations are also likely to apply under the various applicable laws.

Layoffs

By definition, a layoff is temporary. For example, in Québec, when an employee is laid off for a period of less than six (6) months, the employer is under no obligation to send the employee a notice of termination.² In Ontario, a temporary layoff is a layoff of not more than 13 weeks in any period of 20 consecutive weeks, or a layoff of less than 35 weeks in any period of 52 consecutive weeks if one of the