Temporary Foreign Worker Program update provided by Employment and Social Development Canada
The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program uses wage data from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey to help in the administration of the Program and review of the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). The LMIA is in place to protect the Canadian labour market from potential negative impacts of hiring temporary foreign workers, including any downward pressures on Canadian wages. The LMIA also protects the health and safety of temporary foreign workers while in Canada and ensures that appropriate wages are paid for the work undertaken.
The provincial and territorial median wage data is updated annually and used to determine whether a position falls into the Low-Wage or High-Wage Streams. This means, employers are eligible for the Low-wage Stream of the Program if they offer a wage that is below the provincial or territorial median hourly wage for the position requested on the LMIA and, are eligible for the High-wage Stream if they offer a wage that is at or above the provincial or territorial median hourly wage for the position requested on the LMIA. Each stream has specific requirements designed to recognize the labour market impacts of hiring TFWs in certain occupations and industries. The requirements include recruitment efforts, working conditions, and employment duration.
The updated median wages for 2023 are now available online, and are in effect as of May 31, 2023. For LMIAs received on or after this date, employers will be required to submit the application forms and meet the program requirements of the new stream, using the updated median wages. It is important to note that the online application form will be updated automatically, as of May 31, 2023, assisting employers in their application process.
Note that a 90-calendar-day transition period has been put into place (until August 29, 2023), on an exceptional basis, to account for unforeseen delays in the publishing of the wage data this year. During this transition period, Service Canada will work with employers whose application will have changed streams because of the new wages (from Low Wage Stream to High Wage or vice versa) to complete the appropriate application form. Recruitment efforts that meet the Program requirements of the original application package will be accepted as meeting the requirements of the new program stream during this time.
More information about the application process is available on the Employment and Social Development Canada website.