Canada has eased rules governing the hiring of low-wage temporary foreign workers, allowing employers with multiple small work locations to hire more foreign workers than permitted under the standard workforce cap.
Under the revised rules introduced by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) in August, employers can hire one low-wage temporary foreign worker per work location with fewer than 10 employees. Employers in designated in-demand sectors such as healthcare, construction and food production can hire up to two workers per such location.
Previously, the alternative calculation allowing employers to exceed the standard cap applied only to businesses with fewer than 10 employees nationwide. The change means the calculation can now be applied separately to individual work locations.
Normally, employers can have low-wage temporary foreign workers account for no more than 10 per cent of their workforce, or 20 per cent in certain in-demand sectors.
The change applies under Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Programme (TFWP), under which employers must obtain a positive or neutral Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) demonstrating that qualified Canadian citizens or permanent residents are not available for the position.
For workforce-cap calculations, full- and part-time employees, approved temporary foreign workers who have not yet started work, and vacancies included in LMIA applications are counted. Part-time employees working fewer than 30 hours a week count as half an employee.
Employers hiring through the low-wage stream must also meet requirements covering worker transportation, housing and health insurance.
The federal government has also allowed provinces to raise the low-wage workforce cap to 15 per cent for employers in rural areas. However, restrictions remain in urban areas with unemployment rates above 6 per cent, where low-wage LMIA applications have faced a moratorium since September 2024.
The government plans to admit 60,000 foreign workers through the TFWP and 170,000 through the International Mobility Programme (IMP) this year.
