The Government announced reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and LMO applications. 040430, 2013 Stemming from the ongoing review of the TFWP, and as announced in Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2013, the Government is introducing legislative, regulatory and administrative changes that will: effective immediately, require employers to pay temporary foreign workers at the prevailing wage by removing the existing wage flexibility; effective immediately, temporarily suspend the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion process; increase the Government’s authority to suspend and revoke work permits and Labour Market Opinions (LMOs) if the program is being misused; add questions to employer LMO applications to ensure that the TFWP is not used to facilitate the outsourcing of Canadian jobs; ensure employers who rely on temporary foreign workers have a firm plan in place to transition to a Canadian workforce over time through the LMO process; introduce fees for employers for the processing of LMOs and increase the fees for work permits so that the taxpayers are no longer subsidizing the costs; and identify English and French as the only languages that can be used as a job requirement. The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and other primary agricultural occupations will be subject to the reform that will increase the Government’s authority to suspend and revoke work permits and LMOs if they are being misused. However, they will be unaffected by the remaining reforms, as there are proven acute labour shortages in this industry and the unfilled jobs are truly temporary. The results of these changes will strengthen and improve the TFWP to support our economic recovery and growth, and ensure that employers make greater efforts to hire Canadians before hiring temporary foreign workers. These reforms will ensure that the TFWP, which is an important program to deal with acute skills shortages on a temporary basis, is used only as a last resort. As part of the ongoing review of the TFWP, the Harper government will seek input from Canadians on further changes, to ensure that the Program is working in the best interests of Canadian workers and businesses. Cross-Canada consultations will be held over the coming months with businesses, industry and trade organizations, unions and others on additional changes to the TFWP. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Backgrounder -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Temporary Foreign Worker Program Reforms Effective immediately, require employers to pay temporary foreign workers at the prevailing wage by removing the existing wage flexibility. In the past, employers had the flexibility to pay temporary foreign worker wages up to 15% below the prevailing wage for a higher-skilled occupation, and 5% below the prevailing wage for a lower-skilled occupation, provided they could demonstrate that the wage being paid to a temporary foreign worker was the same as that being paid to their Canadian employees in the same job and in the same location. The vast majority of employers were offering wages at or more than the prevailing wage. Given the low uptake and the burdensome process, this option will no longer be available under the new wage policy. Effective immediately, the Accelerated Labour Market Opinion process is temporarily suspended. The Accelerated Labour Market Opinion process is temporarily suspended and under consideration to determine whether it is meeting its original objectives. Budget Implementation Act Pending parliamentary approval, increase the Government’s authority to suspend and revoke work permits and labour market opinions (LMOs) if the program is being misused. The Government is seeking to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) to provide authorities to suspend and revoke LMOs and work permits. This would allow Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to suspend, revoke or refuse to process a request for an LMO. This could occur if, for example, new information becomes available indicating that the entry of a temporary foreign worker would have a negative impact on the labour market or if it is determined that the LMO or work permit was fraudulently obtained. Suspending an LMO would stop the issuance of work permits. In cases where an LMO is suspended or revoked, CIC will review the work permits that were issued under that LMO on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the work permits should also be revoked. The parameters of this new authority will be made public once they have been determined. Pending parliamentary approval, introduce fees for employers for processing LMOs and increase fees for processing work permits so that taxpayers are no longer subsidizing the costs. Under Economic Action Plan 2013, the Government of Canada announced that it would introduce fees for employers applying for temporary foreign workers through the LMO process. There will also be an increase to the cost of work permit applications for temporary foreign workers. The exact amount of the fees is still being determined. The introduction of a fee for processing positions requested through LMOs and an increase in the costs of work permits will also ensure that taxpayers and work permit holders no longer subsidize the provision of this service to employers. Additional Changes Add questions to employer LMO applications to ensure that the TFWP is not being used to facilitate the outsourcing of Canadian jobs. The Government of Canada will soon implement new measures to require additional information from employers and their partner companies before issuing an LMO. These measures include adding new questions on the LMO application regarding outsourcing and verifying that Canadian employees are not being replaced by foreign workers. Ensure employers who rely on temporary foreign workers have a firm plan in place to transition to a Canadian workforce over time through the LMO process. Employers will be required to develop and implement a plan to transition to a Canadian workforce. The details of a transition plan will vary depending on whether the employer is seeking to fill a lower- or higher-skilled position, the type and size of the industry and the regional unemployment rate, as well as the particular job being advertised. The employer will have to submit the transition plan to HRSDC as part of its LMO application. The transition plan will generally include an employer’s intended actions in the following areas: recruitment, training, and residency. For every LMO application submitted, HRSDC will review each employer’s plan and determine if it is sufficient to support the transition to a Canadian workforce before issuing a positive LMO. HRSDC will issue the employer a negative LMO should the employer not provide sufficient detail. A review of the employer’s progress against the transition plan will occur if the employer applies for another LMO in the future. Employers will be required to document their ongoing efforts to transition to a Canadian workforce. Identify English and French as the only languages that can be used as a job requirement. Employers seeking temporary foreign workers, or advertising for jobs, in a language other than English or French will not be allowed to hire temporary foreign workers. Exemptions will only be given in specialized cases where a foreign language is an essential job requirement, such as tour guides, translators or performers. In these cases, the onus will be on the employer to explain why a foreign language is a requirement of the job.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 00:54:12 +0000
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