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Creating an employer engagement strategy addressing the elimination of Temporary Foreign Workers
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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Leaders are calling for an end to the use of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) and this is likely to increase the wages, working conditions and skill levels of many of these jobs. There is an opportunity here to build an entire job development strategy around this transition, but we need to also consider that massive change brings unexpected outcomes.
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Politicians on both sides of the political spectrum have come out to call for Canada to scrap the International Mobility Program (more commonly referred to as the Temporary Foreign Worker Program). We have Pierre Poilievre, leader of the federal Conservative Party surprisingly in alignment with David Eby, Premier of British Columbia’s New Democratic government. Both are calling on the Prime Minister to scrap the program and address youth unemployment.
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Meanwhile, we have Prime Minister Mark Carney who’s rejected the notion and said we need a "focused approach" that targets the needs of specific sectors and regions.
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Those plans are already well underway. At present, temporary foreign workers and international students make up 7.1 per cent of Canada's population, according to Statistics Canada.
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Carney’s government has already put in place policies so that temporary residents, as a proportion of the population, will decline from seven to five per cent in a few years.
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The only problem is that it doesn’t seem to be working. Even though the Government of Canada has policies in place to eliminate TFWs in Census Metropolitan Areas with an unemployment rate exceeding six percent, as of September 2025, the government has issued 105,195 permits, compared to 109,310 in all of 2024. The 2025 target is only supposed to be 82,000 for the whole year. This indicates the program has already exceeded its quota for this year by more than 20 percent.
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This is likely why we are seeing record high youth unemployment levels that hovered around 14.5 per cent throughout the summer.
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Should we or should we not have a temporary foreign worker program? Should we allow international students to study and work in Canada and ultimately apply for permanent residency? How important is the mix of immigration to Canada’s future?
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These are extremely complex questions and we’ve seen multiple immigration changes in the past two years which have had significant impacts on our labour market.
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Public colleges and universities across the country have been devastated by the sudden drawdown of international students, both in terms of caps and increased visa challenges.
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Meanwhile, employers are struggling to stay on top of the changes, while simultaneously dealing with the tariff impacts of an unstable trading partner. All of this change is creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and economic conservatism that is prompting employers to avoid any investment in technology, training and recruitment.
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For my part, I believe TFWs and international students are an important part of our future labour market strategy and should be preserved in some form.
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Agriculture will be devastated without TFWs because many communities simply don’t have the population to staff many of these roles.
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International students allow colleges and universities to deliver more affordable and more diverse curriculum to domestic students as our population of Canadian youth is barely maintaining itself in some areas and falling in others. We don’t have enough natural growth in population for colleges and universities to grow and innovate.
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Also, providing vocational education in both English and French to international students provides us with a ready future labour supply where students have paid for their complete education and it hasn’t been subsidized by taxpayers.
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Immigration is a critical component to our future labour market and I’d love it if all parties got together in Ottawa to draft a multi-decade strategy that allows for stable growth in our labour market, but why would politicians want to give up something they love to tear each other down over?
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I don’t believe immigration should be something that limits the employment outcomes of youth. This said, employers have abrogated their responsibility hire young people and provide that first workplace-based training in what it means to have adult responsibilities and expectations.
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Perhaps some youth don’t want to work, aren’t looking and have no sense of responsibility but the research I’m looking at suggests this is not the norm.
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Young people are looking for work, applying for dozens, if not hundreds of jobs and getting very little traction with employers.
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Not all employers are utilizing TFWs, but those who do, use it as their primary workforce driver. That is considering the cost of hiring a TFWs.
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Pierre Pollieve has frequently called TFWs ‘low-wage workers’, suggesting they earn less than Canadian workers. This is entirely untrue. TFWs have all of the same employment standards rights as their Canadian counterparts.
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According to Restaurants Canada, "the costs of bringing in TFWs can be as high as $8,600 per worker.”
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This said, TFWs do not make up the majority of hospitality workers, accounting for only three per cent of the foodservice workforce.
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The largest category of TFWs actually work as harvesting labourers, accounting for more workers than the next seven categories combined.
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The following is a list of the top jobs approved for temporary foreign workers in Canada in 2024:
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Harvesting labourers, TFWs: 62,741
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Nursery and greenhouse labourers, TFWs: 12,442
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Cooks, TFWs: 12,020
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Food service supervisors, TFWs: 11,999
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Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations, TFWs: 9,768
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Transport truck drivers, TFWs: 8,545
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Construction trades helpers and labourers, TFWs: 7,641
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Livestock labourers, TFWs: 7,325
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Fish and seafood plant workers, TFWs: 4,942
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Administrative assistants, TFWs: 4,349
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Light duty cleaners, TFWs: 4,275
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Retail sales supervisors, TFWs: 3,276
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Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates, TFWs: 2,761
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Labourers in food and beverage processing, TFWs: 2,738
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Home child care providers, TFWs: 2,602
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As you watch the debate over TFWs and international students go back and forth, don’t lose site of the fact that these programs have a huge impact (some good and some bad) for our broader labour market and rash changes to them will have unexpected impacts.
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Had employers been denied the opportunity to bring in TFWs decades ago, they would have invested in more technology and skills development that would have created higher skilled, better paid jobs for domestic workers, albiet -- perhaps fewer. The reliance on TFWs has limited innovation and skills development.
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Limiting the TFW program would also have brought about higher food prices and other forms of inflation. It would also have likely bankrupted employers and possibly eliminated some agricultural industries all together. That is the nature of the free market.
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Regardless of whether it is a complete abandonment of utilizing TFWs or a refocused approach, it is clear all parties are committed to Canada being less reliant on international workers.
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This creates a tremendous opportunity for us in our communication with employers.
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Domestic workers, (citizens and permanent residents), do not require flights, housing, complex government applications or renewals. These workers provide the opportunity for Canadian employers to grow their domestic workforce year-after-year. They already have an attachment to the community, so they are less likely to leave for a more attractive community.
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As you talk with local employers who’ve utilized TFWs in the past, ask them whether saving $8,600 per worker could be utilized in developing their own training and mentoring programs.
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Is it possible that an employer who has typically brought in five to ten TFWs in the past could redirect those funds to hire an in-house trainer to bring their staff up to the levels of service and support the employer expects.
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When you are placing individuals with employers, underscore the value of mentorship in developing good teams. Encourage them to pair their newest hires with the best performing staff to instill expectations of performance and contribution.
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Simply put, youth unemployment isn’t high because we’ve become too reliant on TFWs or international students. Youth unemployment is high because employers have failed to see the value of hiring young people.
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I hear people say all the time that young people don’t want to work. The way the Canada Labour Force Survey is gathered is to take the feedback of people who say, “I am looking for work.” Nearly fifteen per cent of young people being interviewed say they are looking for work and not getting anywhere.
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In our roles, whether marketing those hoping to find their first job, a recent immigrant or a young person graduating from college or university, we need to speak to the strengths and the potential of someone brand new to the job market. We need to market them based on what they can contribute rather than what they have contributed. And if you think about it, these young candidates may contribute far more than a what a seasoned candidate can provide. Employers just need to buy into that philosophy as well.
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We’ll be discussing the marketing of clients and students in a world with fewer temporary foreign workers at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Monday October 6th at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland.
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On the morning of Monday October 6th 'Click this Link' to join the session LIVE.
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'Leaders in Job Development'
OPEN TO CHARTER MEMBERS UNTIL OCT. 14TH
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We’re still in the launch phase of Leaders in Job Development. We are looking to work with leading career development organizations to help highlight and promote their work in effective job development. We have one week left for organizations to sign on as Charter Members. All organizations that register as Charter Members by October 14th will benefit from a perpetual 25% discount on their membership.
Learn more about: Leaders in Job Development
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'2025 Labour Market
Year-in-Review Workshops'
December 2025
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Registration is now open for our Labour Market Year-in-Review workshops, taking place respectively in British Columbia and Ontario. We have a 20% discount for everyone who registers early. To learn more:
BC Workshop Link | Nov. 28th / Dec. 1st
or
Ontario Workshop Link | Dec. 5th and 8th
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