Worldway Latest News: June 23, Canadian Federal Minister of Employment Jason Kenney stated on the CBC Radio program "The House," which aired on the 21st, that he had originally considered completely terminating the low-skilled foreign worker component of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. However, given that an abrupt halt could leave thousands of businesses in distress and that the overall economic costs and adjustment costs for specific industries would be too high, he ultimately decided to phase it out gradually.
Kenney stated on the program that he agrees with the argument that the free market should determine whether companies need to raise wages to attract workers.
Kenney announced on the 20th that employers in regions with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher will not be permitted to hire temporary foreign workers. He stated on the program that the authorities will gradually lower the cap on the proportion of low-wage temporary foreign workers that can be employed at each workplace. The current cap is 30%, which will be reduced to 20% next year, and further reduced to 10% in 2016. By 2016, the government will be able to decide to lower the ratio to 0%, completely eliminating low-skilled temporary foreign workers.
Other reforms to this program include increasing the frequency of inspections, with one in every four employers being inspected annually. The authorities will add approximately 20 inspectors, bringing the total number of inspectors to about 60. In addition, effective immediately, the employer application fee will increase from $275 per person to $1,000. Starting this autumn, employers who abuse the program will face fines of up to $100,000. The duration of stay for temporary foreign workers in Canada will be reduced from 4 years to 2 years, and funding for the Canada Border Services Agency will be increased to facilitate more criminal investigations.
These program reforms are generally supported by business groups, though some have criticized the authorities for using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
