Canada Expands Access to Low-Wage Foreign Workers for Multi-Site Employers

The Canadian government has made changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to enable employers with several small work locations to hire more low-wage foreign workers. This update, introduced by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), allows affected employers to exceed the usual 10% or 20% limit of their workforce as low-wage temporary foreign workers.

Background on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Typically, employers are restricted to hiring no more than 10% of their total workforce through the low-wage stream of the TFWP, or 20% for in-demand sectors such as health care, construction, and food production. However, ESDC now permits employers to hire either one or two low-wage temporary foreign workers per work location with fewer than 10 employees, with the two-worker limit applying to employers in in-demand sectors.

Calculation of Workforce Cap

The increase has been made possible by shifting to the use of the number of employees at each individual work location for the alternative calculation of the workforce cap. This applies to workforce sizes under 10, where an employer would otherwise qualify for less than one low-wage permit if subject to the 10% limit, or for fewer than two permits if subject to the 20% limit. The new calculation is described in the "Variation: Employers with fewer than 10 employees at a given work location" section of the "Program requirements for low-wage positions."

Requirements for Hiring Low-Wage Foreign Workers

For a foreign worker to be issued or renew a work permit through the TFWP, the employer must apply for and be issued a positive or neutral Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) by ESDC, showing that no qualified Canadian citizen or permanent resident is available to fill the position. Employers hiring through the low-wage stream are also subject to additional requirements, such as paying for the worker's transportation to and from Canada, ensuring access to suitable housing, and purchasing private health insurance for workers not covered by their province or territory's publicly funded health insurance plan.

The calculation of an employer's workforce size at a given location includes all full-time and part-time employees, temporary foreign workers with approved LMIAs who have not yet begun working, and vacant positions for which the employer is requesting hires on their LMIA application(s). Part-time employees count toward the cap as 0.5 of an employee. The federal government plans to admit 60,000 foreign workers through the TFWP and 170,000 through the International Mobility Program (IMP) this year, according to the government's annual immigration levels plan.