Temporary foreign workers at the Quails' Gate Estate Winery in B.C. in May, 2024.Aaron Hemens/The Globe and Mail
If the postings on the government of Canada’s job bank site are to be believed, hardly anyone in this country wants to work, whatever the wage. Never mind rising unemployment, particularly among young Canadians. Good help, it seems, remains impossible to find.
Companies seeking permission to hire a temporary foreign worker must first prove that they could not find a Canadian willing to do that work. As of Thursday, there were 4,594 positions listed. The type of positions, and pay, vary wildly, everything from a psychiatrist position in Ottawa paying (at least) $450,000 a year to a slew of minimum-wage jobs in agriculture and food service.
What they all have in common is the official claim by a business that no one in Canada wants the job. On such assertions rests the entire edifice (and artifice) of the temporary foreign worker program.
With the youth unemployment rate at a rare high, Gen Z is scrambling for entry-level work
But the question must be asked: Might those businesses look a little harder for a Canadian to hire were the temporary worker program not an option? Some of the 456,000 Canadians aged 15 to 24 who couldn’t find a job in August may have a thought or two.
Businesses might up the odds of success by offering more than minimum wage. Or they could be a bit more flexible on qualifications; does the manager of a fast-food restaurant really need a university degree? Perhaps those businesses would take the evidently extraordinary step of hiring a Canadian teen and provide some on-the-job training. Or perhaps firms would find it more profitable to invest in technology.
Instead, they can opt for subsidies, in the form of (relatively) cheap imported labour. It is true that the rules of the program require firms to pay the median prevailing wage in a region. But that does not mean companies aren’t still receiving a hidden subsidy.
First, the obvious: An employee brought in under the temporary foreign worker program is legally tethered to that business. The guarantee of a stable work force is valuable to a business; that’s why they are willing to bear the considerable costs of the TFW program.
Then, there is the not quite as obvious point that the TFW program reduces labour market competition before and after an overseas worker arrives. Beforehand, companies can avoid the expense of increasing the wage on offer until it is high enough to attract desirable candidates. Afterward, wages don’t need to rise to keep workers.
Unsurprisingly, unemployment among youth (who might otherwise fill the entry-level jobs occupied by temporary workers) has been soaring. This summer, the unemployment rate for workers aged 15 to 24 planning to return to school hit a 17-year high (excluding the pandemic spike), rising to 16.9 per cent – nearly triple the 6.1-per-cent unemployment rate for workers aged 25 to 54.
That is generational economic scarring in the making, as young Canadians miss out on the experience of a first job during high school, or gainful employment to pay for postsecondary education.
A temporary foreign worker prepares to milk cows at the MCF Leclerc Farm in Trois-Rivières, Que. in April, 2025.Andrej Ivanov/The Globe and Mail
Simple fairness is one reason to start rolling back the TFW program. If the concerns of Canadian youth aren’t convincing enough, then the silent damage to the Canadian economy should be. Every temporary worker hired eases the pressure on Canadian businesses to innovate and to invest.
Luckily, there is growing awareness of the problem. Both Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and BC NDP Premier David Eby have called for changes. Unfortunately, the Liberals still defend the program as it exists, with Prime Minister Mark Carney recently saying it was the No. 2 concern for businesses he talked to, second only to tariffs.
Tony Keller: Yes, Canada should (mostly) end our temporary foreign worker programs
The Liberals, it’s true, have tightened the rules of the program by reversing some of the worst changes they made to it. It was bizarre to have ever scrapped the rule that disallowed TFW applications from areas of high unemployment.
But tinkering won’t suffice. Outside of agriculture, the TFW program should be wound down. Existing workers should be allowed to work the time allotted on permits, giving their employers some runway to adjust their business model. At the same time, Ottawa should sharply restrict the scope of permitted work for international students.
Of course, that will create transitional pain for businesses that have grown dependent on indentured labour. The pain is the point – a prod to firms to innovate rather than lean on government.