Canada's Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Official Languages had one clear message for the country's largest business associations.
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program must not be used to circumvent hiring talented workers in Canada, and the federal government will take further action to weed out misuse and fraud within the system.
Randy Boissonnault didn't mince words on Tuesday as he implied some employers may be passing over available Canadian workers for lower-paid foreign ones.
"I've been clear over the last year; abuse and misuse of the TFW program must end," he told business leaders. "Bad actors are taking advantage of people and compromising the program for legitimate businesses."
Boissonnault pledged to closely monitor employer demand for the TFW Program and the employment rate. If further tightening measures are needed, including enforcing the 20 per cent cap policy, applying more rigorous oversight, increasing fees, and regulatory changes.
He also threatened to implement a refusal to process under the low wage stream. That would stop employers in some industries from using the program entirely.
Several changes were made to the program during the pandemic when labour market needs were high. Now that the labour market has returned to a more balanced state, it's being adjusted to ensure only employers with demonstrable needs have access.
Penalties for those employers who misuse the program could face significant penalties, including fines of $100,000 to $1-million annually. More egregious violations could also warrant permanent bans.
