Workplace Wire

The federal government announced yesterday that it is overhauling the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).  This follows recent criticism of the program, namely that it was taking away opportunities for Canadians and reducing general wage levels across the country.

The proposed changes include the following:

• A requirement that employers have in place a plan to shift to hiring Canadian workers
• Cancellation of a pilot project that allowed employers in certain circumstances to pay up to 15 percent below the prevailing wage rates to temporary foreign workers
• Increased government authority to suspend and revoke work permits where employers are deemed to be abusing the program
• A requirement for employers to pay new fees in requesting to hire a foreigner
• An immediate suspension of the Accelarated Labour Market Opinion process, which allowed for expedited processing of temporary work permits
• A rule that English and French can be the only languages required for job

We will be both assessing and providing further analysis of these changes shortly.  We are also hosting a session at our Toronto offices on May 22nd on managing global mobility in the light of changing immigration and employment rules and regulations.  Do not hesitate to sign up for this free seminar at the following link.

For further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the writer at ssultan@heenan,ca or 416-777-4175.