Canada Looks To Address Foreign Worker Issue

After winning his new Alberta riding by-election last month, Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre will now return to the floor of Parliament in mid-September.  And, as head of the official Opposition Party, Poilievre has a list of grievances for the ruling Carney Liberals. Near the top of the current list is Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program.

On Wednesday Poilievre announced that his goal is to permanently end that program.

“Stop issuing Visas for any new temporary foreign workers," he noted.  "Nearly 75% of temporary foreign workers that come into the country are for low wage positions.  Which means they compete with working-class and young people, that ultimately drive down wages.”

Prime Minister Carney Wants To Look At The Program

The former Liberal government under Justin Trudeau is on the record as stating the program needs a formal review.  And Mark Carney says the program is on the Cabinet’s discussion agenda but Carney also says there is no plan to do away with it, as it fills a workforce need.

“That program has a role," Carney said.  "When I talk to businesses around the country, their number one issue is tariffs, and their number two issue is access to temporary foreign workers.”

A similar but different program, the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, allows primary agriculture employers to bring in seasonal workers from Mexico and Caribbean countries.  But farmers and agri-food producers can also choose to hire workers through the Temporary Foreign Workers program.  And that program, the one that Poilievre wants ended, accounted for more than 78,000 employees across the agriculture sector in last year, according to Statistics Canada.

Canadian Farmers Nervous About The Conservatives Plan

Poilievre’s Conservatives have said they would establish a separate and standalone program for agricultural labor.  But Keith Currie, who farms in central Ontario, and is president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, believes the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program could be put in danger if changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program go too far.

“I don’t know how you do away with the Temporary Worker Program in totality, without harming the agriculture streams,” Currie said.

Concerns of losing the Temporary Foreign Workers Program are being heard well beyond the agricultural sector.  Dan Kelly, with the Canadian Federation of Small and Medium Business, said that the program is a valuable resource for many small and rural communities with a limited labor pool to draw on.

“There are thousands of communities where there are just no entry-level people," Kelly said.  "If you’re trying to hire in rural Saskatchewan, to work in your quick-service restaurant, it’s unlikely that the unemployed kid from Toronto is going to take the job washing dishes in Estevan.”

Conservative Pierre Poilievre said he plans to put the Temporary Foreign Worker Program on the agenda for debate when Parliament goes back into session in Ottawa on September 15^th.

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