Ottawa, Ontario            Employment and Social Development Canada

The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development, announced further changes today stemming from the ongoing review of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to ensure Canadians are first in line for available jobs.

The Government of Canada is introducing legislative amendments to give the Government the authority to levy monetary fines on employers who break the rules of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.  

These fines will help ensure that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is used as intended—as a temporary source of labour as a last resort when Canadians are not available. Those who do not use the program as intended will face significant consequences.

Quick Facts

As announced in Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2013, the Government has introduced several regulatory and administrative changes that:

• provide the Government with the authority to conduct inspections to make sure employers are meeting the conditions of the program;
• allow the Government to ban non-compliant employers from the program and immediately add their names to a public list;
• provide the Government with the authority to revoke or suspend Labour Market Opinions (LMOs), or refuse to process LMO applications, and to revoke work permits and refuse to process work permit applications, when necessary;
• require employers to pay temporary foreign workers at the prevailing wage by removing the existing wage flexibility; and
• introduce fees for employers for the processing of LMOs and increase the fees for work permits so that the taxpayers are no longer subsidizing the costs.

Quote

“Our government is taking action to ensure Canadians are first in line for available jobs. The changes announced today give the Government the ability to levy monetary fines against employers who break the rules of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and are yet another strong action to ensure that Canadians come first. With this change, we are sending a clear message that employers who break the rules will face consequences.”

– The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development