News Release

Canada’s new government makes improvements to the temporary foreign worker program

Vancouver, February 23, 2007 — The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSDC), and the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) today announced additional improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker program. These improvements address challenges that Canadian employers face in filling labour shortages and so help Canada stay competitive and contribute to a strong economy.

“As part of the Advantage Canada strategy, Canada’s New Government is making changes to our Temporary Foreign Worker program to make it faster and easier for Canadian employers to meet their labour force needs,” said Minister Solberg. “Employers who have exhausted their search for Canadian workers often need to hire temporary foreign workers to work for a period longer than a year, and today’s announcement will allow this to happen.”

“The changes will reduce the time that employers have to wait to get the workers they need,” said Minister Finley. “As well, extending the time that workers can stay in Canada provides more security and stability to the workers and to the employers”.

The Honourable Colin Hansen, B.C. Minister of Economic Development, welcomed the improvements saying, “These additional changes to the Foreign Worker Program will help our employers by making sure they have the labour force to sustain our booming economy.”

“The Foreign Worker Program requires that we demonstrate efforts to recruit in Canada, but sometimes Canadians are not available,” said Wendy Swedlove, President of the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (CTHRC). “In these situations, the improvements would help us to hire workers for these vacant jobs. The changes will make it easier for us to bring in temporary foreign workers so that we can continue to contribute to Canada’s economy.”

These measures are a good first step in dealing with some of the issues faced by small businesses, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). “With the shortage of labour at an all-time high, foreign workers are a more and more important resource for small businesses trying to deal with the issue,” said Catherine Swift, President and CEO of CFIB. “However, CFIB research found that the immigration and temporary foreign worker process is cumbersome and complicated to navigate. Today’s announcement shows the government is listening to small business’ concerns and is beginning to address the issues,” she added.

The Program allows employers to hire temporary foreign workers when there are no Canadian citizens or permanent residents available for the positions. Previously, temporary foreign workers with less formal training would have to leave Canada after twelve months, for four months, and then re-apply to come back. With these changes, they can stay for up to twenty-four months without having to request an extension.

Two other measures are also being introduced which will save employers time. Employers will be able to apply online to HRSDC for a labour market opinion (LMO) (see attached backgrounder), and, upon request, CIC and HRSDC will process work permits and LMO’s concurrently.

For more information:

Lesley Harmer
Director of Communications
Office of Minister Solberg
819-994-2482

Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559

Philippe Mailhot
Press Secretary
Office of Minister Finley
613-954-1064

Melanie Carkner
Media Relations Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650

Backgrounders

• Improvements to the foreign worker program
• Application for a labour market opinion