Here comes some good news for Canadian food service employers as well as employees as the federal government brings about new changes and eases rules on temporary foreign workers. 

According to these, Canadian food service employees will now be able to hire up to 30% of their workforce through the TFWP (Temporary foreign worker program) as well as other upcoming changes for temporary foreign workers. Canada is currently experiencing major labour shortages and the changes announced on Monday will allow employees to hire foreign workers for more low-wage jobs, and in areas where unemployment rate is still very high. 

One very important change is that higher-wage and highly skilled workers will now be able to secure three years of employment eligibility instead of two years, which will in turn help them for their permanent residency plans. All these upcoming developments are taking place to help Canada build its workforce. Bringing in temporary foreign workers to fill jobs where no local Canadian citizens are available to work is one way to help fix this rising issue. 

Starting immediately, there are five major changes that would take place

• Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) were initially valid for nine months but have now been increased to eighteen months. An LMIA is a group of documents that help prove to the Canadian government that a foreign worker employed in the country will pose no negative threat to the labour market. 

• The maximum duration of employment for high-wage and Global Talent Stream workers was initially two years and has now been increased to three years. Doing this will help workers be eligible for several more pathways which would help them during PR. 
• The Seasonal Cap Exemption has been made permanent now and there will not be a limit to the number of low-wage positions that employers in seasonal industries can fill through the TFWP. 

Changes effective from April 30th,

• For a one year duration, employers from sectors that have demonstrated labour shortages will be able to hire 30% of their staff through TFWP. The 7 sectors that come under this are 

• Food manufacturing
• Wood product manufacturing
• Furniture and related product manufacturing
• Accommodation and food services
• Construction
• Hospitals 
• Nursing and residential care facilities.

Rest of the employers will be allowed to hire up to 20% of their workforce through the TFW 

• The federal government will also remove a restriction that forbids employers in regions where the jobless rate is higher than six per cent from using TFWs in retail and food service.

As of today, Canada’s labour market is in a worse position than what it was like pre-pandemic. In the third quarter of 2021 the job vacancy rate made new records that were completely unexpected. Most of the labour requirements are currently in the low-wage occupations and these plans are brought forth with a lot of hope.

In November 2021, these sectors faced the highest job vacancies

• Accommodation and Food Services – 130,070 vacancies
• Health Care and Social Assistance – 119,590 vacancies
• Retail Trade – 103,990 vacancies
• Manufacturing – 81,775 vacancies

In 2022, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program approved around 5000 positions under the Global Talent Stream and 23,000 positions in the High-Wage category. This could be you tomorrow, if you believe to have the right skills and the drive to start working towards your future in this land of opportunities. 

Do you wish to Immigrate to Canada and want to know how the upcoming ease in restrictions will benefit you? 

Reach out to us today at  www.aroraimmigration.com or call us at (778) 564-0192