Regulatory changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, in consultation with stakeholders, worked collaboratively to develop amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. These changes will help strengthen the integrity of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and provide further protections for temporary foreign workers while alleviating temporary labour shortages.
As a result of these amendments, there are important changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program that affect employers and temporary foreign workers starting on April 1, 2011.
Highlights of the changes include:
- A more rigorous assessment of the genuineness of the job offer;
- A two-year prohibition from hiring temporary foreign workers for employers who have failed to meet their commitments to workers with respect to wages, working conditions and occupation; and
- A limit on the length of time a temporary foreign worker may work in Canada before returning home.
Employers and temporary foreign workers can find information on how the new regulations affect them in the links provided below.