On August 6, 2024, Minister Randy Boissonnault, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, held a meeting with representatives from Canada’s largest business associations. The purpose of the meeting was to announce new actions the government and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) are taking to prevent fraud in the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program. Minister Boissonnault emphasized that businesses should use the TFW Program only when they can't find qualified workers in Canada.

Here are some of the key measures ESDC will implement:

• Enforcing the 20% Cap: There will be a strict enforcement of the rule that limits temporary foreign workers to 20% of a company’s workforce. This includes the "dual intent sub-stream" for workers who plan to apply for permanent residency. Companies using this stream will face stricter guidelines.

• Stricter Oversight: ESDC will apply tougher oversight in high-risk areas when approving Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) and during inspections.

• Potential LMIA Fee Increases: The government is considering increasing fees for LMIAs to cover the costs of better integrity checks and processing.

• Employer Eligibility Rules: Future regulations might require employers to have been in business for a certain number of years or limit companies with a history of layoffs from using the TFW Program.

Minister Boissonnault is also considering stopping the processing of applications under the low-wage stream in certain areas and industries. If adopted, this would prevent some employers from using the TFW Program.

Additionally, the government plans to modernize the program and introduce a new stream for workers in Agriculture and Fish & Seafood Processing, as first mentioned in Budget 2022.

For more information, please see the official news release from ESDC.