Canada’s construction sector was spared as the federal Liberal government announced cuts to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) low-wage stream but stakeholders say they are wary about what might come next and are renewing calls for meaningful broader reforms.
The reductions to the TFWP low-wage stream announced by Minister of Employment Randy Boissonnault Aug. 26 specifically exempted the construction sector as well as health care and food production but Sean Strickland, executive director of Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU), charged that the program is nonetheless a wage suppressor for Canada’s trades workers.
“We’ve seen this program go from a system designed to be a short-term pressure-release valve for high-skill occupations to address episodic shortages, to a program that allows employers to import large amounts of foreign labour at cheaper wages, suppressing wages in the construction sector,” stated Strickland.
“We need real reform to bring the program back to balance.”
Better balance needed
Rodrigue Gilbert, president of the Canadian Construction Association, noted that the CCA has been advocating for a long time for a better immigration system to address construction workforce shortages, including to expand access to the TFWP to recruit new workers. But, he said, comments made by the government Aug. 26 are “concerning” and might indicate an expansion of the changes.
The CCA is monitoring the situation closely, he said.
“The TFWP low-wage stream applies to jobs with hourly wages below the provincial median whereas the construction industry offers well-paying jobs that are largely above the median wages,” Gilbert stated. “Regardless of these changes, the CCA will continue to advocate to the federal government to modernize our immigration system to ensure our industry can have access to the workers we need.”
There are two main streams admitting migrants to work in Canada – economic immigrants, who can stay permanently, and TFW.
The Trudeau government announced an expansion to the TFWP just two years ago, allowing companies in most industries to fill up to 20 per cent of their positions through the low-wage stream of the TFWP, up from 10 per cent, though a 30-per-cent cap still applies to construction.
In 2023 the government approved employer applications to hire 83,000 people through the low-wage stream, almost double the previous total.
This year, with unemployment rising and now above six per cent, the government has begun clamping down on various streams, including a recent Quebec-based reduction in access to low-wage foreign labour.
The following changes will be implemented effective Sept. 26:
- The government will not process Labour Market Impact Assessments in the low-wage stream in regions with an unemployment rate of six per cent or higher (construction and other sectors excepted).
- Employers will be allowed to hire no more than 10 per cent of their total workforce from the low-wage stream, a further cut from a March 2024 reduction (construction and other sectors excepted).
- The maximum duration of employment for workers hired through the low-wage stream will be reduced to one year, from two years.
LIUNA director of communications Victoria Mancinelli said the Labourers believe the TFWP should be wound down, with skilled trades workers admitted under the main economic stream having full rights and access to union representation and pathways to full citizenship. As it stands, TFW are vulnerable to exploitation, she said.
‘Workers deserve better’
“We have seen very little movement on this, despite over 10 years of advocacy,” said Mancinelli.
“No worker in Canada should be faced with unsafe working conditions or exploitation.”
The statement from Strickland said the CBTU is encouraged to see steps being taken to reduce the overall number of temporary workers that can be employed by a single employer.
But, he stated, “The omission of our sector from the reforms announced is disappointing, and the workers we are relying on to build our country deserve to be a legislative priority.”
One way to end wage suppression is to require employers to call union halls and consult on the prevailing wage before they can obtain approval to bring in TFWs, Strickland said.
“Tying the prevailing wage to our union wages, as has been done in the new Investment Tax Credit legislation, will go a long way to ending the wage suppression by TFWs in the construction sector,” he said.
The CBTU is also calling for a review of the International Mobility Program, where foreign workers enter Canada to perform skilled trades work through various free trade agreements such as CUSMA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. “A lack of enforcement of immigration rules around these agreements is letting foreign workers displace Canadian workers when big multinationals are involved in projects,” stated Strickland.
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