Guide to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program
0%
Apart from their temporary status, TFWs have the same rights as Canadian citizens.
LIP
What is a Temporary Foreign Worker?
A Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) is a foreign national working in Canada temporarily. They fill a specific labour market gap when Canadians and permanent residents are unavailable, unwilling or unable to do the job. They are authorized to enter and remain in the country for a limited period if they have the appropriate documentation.
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) includes four major streams:
High Wage Worker Stream (which refers to positions with wages at or above the provincial or territorial median hourly wage);
Low Wage Worker Stream (which refers to positions with wages below the provincial or territorial median hourly wage);
Agriculture Worker Stream (which refers to temporary foreign workers engaged in on-farm primary agricultural work);
Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (which allows employers to hire agricultural workers to work in Canada for up to eight months during peak farming periods);
Global Talent Stream (which offers a shorter processing time to help employers obtain highly skilled or specialized temporary foreign workers more quickly);
Home Care Provider Stream (which refers to positions involving the care of children or family members with high medical needs); and
Foreign Academics (which fills positions and brings new knowledge and expertise to Canadian campuses).
There is no official set maximum time a TFW can work in Canada, though many cannot work for more than four cumulative years without a four-year return to their home country or remaining in Canada without working. However, this depends on the stream of entry, the job offer from the employer, the length of time listed on the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) if the employer needs to get one and how long a person’s passport is valid.
Besides their temporary status, TFWs have the same rights as Canadian citizens.
What is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)?
The Government of Canada offers the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). It allows employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary jobs when qualified Canadians are unavailable.
It is regulated through the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, and it is administered in partnership with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
To hire most TFWs, employers must complete the Canadian government’s labour market test, known as the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). The LMIA investigates whether there are Canadian or permanent resident workers willing or available to complete the job. Once it has been identified that a TFW is necessary to fulfill the job, employers can then ask the employee to apply for a work permit.
In the very rare cases that an LMIA is not necessary, the employer must submit an offer of employment and provide the offer of employment number to the desired worker so they may apply for a work permit.
A border services officer issues the actual work permit when the worker arrives in Canada at the port of entry. If the worker is already in Canada and eligible, the work permit may be mailed to them.
Each province and territory has its own set of policies that affect the administration of the programs.
All migrant workers in Canada are protected under federal instruments such as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and under various provincial laws that ensure workplace and occupational health and safety, employment standards and human rights. They must receive the same pay as a Canadian or permanent resident for the same position.
History of Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) history is a long and storied one. It has undergone multiple changes and reforms to meet labour market needs and prevent abuse of migrant workers.
Canada’s TFWP was first born as an agreement between nations to address labour market gaps. In 1966, its first iteration was rolled out as the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP). An agreement with Jamaica saw Jamaicans work on Canadian farms during the growing and harvesting season. It has since expanded to include Mexico and numerous Caribbean countries.
Under the SAWP, migrant workers cannot seek employment outside their work contract and cannot apply for permanent resident status.
The SAWP is operated by the Federal Ministry of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, in partnership with the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration and the governments of the workers’ country of origin.
They can reside for a maximum of 8 months, between January 1 and December 15 of the same year. Similarly, the primary agriculture stream allows people from any country to work in the agricultural sector for 24 months when Canadians and permanent residents are not available.
Using the SAWP as a jumping point, the TFWP was created in 1973 to accommodate labour shortages experienced in parts of the Canadian labour market. At the start, TFWs were high-skilled workers such as nurses, engineers and other medical specialists. The Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) was then added in 1992. In 2002, a pilot program (originally known as Low-Skill Pilot) was introduced to bring lower-skilled workers to different work positions.
In 2013, the government mandated that employers pay wages that match those of Canadians residing in the region where they are employed. In 2011, the program was further changed so that many TFWs could only work for a maximum cumulative duration of four years. Once that maximum is reached, TFWs must spend four years outside of Canada or in Canada but not working before being eligible to work legally again.
Sweeping reforms occurred in 2014 to limit employers’ reliance on TFWs and strengthen compliance mechanisms. This included changes to the caregiver programs. Caregivers were no longer required to live inside their employer’s home, and applications are now assessed in the high-wage or low-wage stream. Over the years, the TFWP has evolved and expanded, adding more streams and altering some.
TFWs are an option to help industries thrive when they may otherwise falter due to a lack of qualified or interested Canadian-born staff. Close to 470,000 foreign nationals have a work permit that became effective in 2019, and they account for 2.9% of total employment. According to Statistic Canada, TFWs account for 41.6% of the agricultural workers in Ontario and over 30 percent of the agricultural workers in Quebec, British Columbia and Nova Scotia during the year.
