On December 13, 2016 the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) repealed the “four-in, four-out” rule originally introduced in April 2011 that applied to certain temporary foreign workers to prevent them from working in Canada for more than four consecutive years without returning to their home countries.
Minister of Immigration, Chris Alexander, continues to make the hiring of foreign workers difficult for Canadian employers. On February 21, 2015 Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) introduced new rules that require employers hiring foreign nationals under the International Mobility Programs, such as intra-company transferees and international experience class workers, to complete a new form and pay a $230 fee per worker as part of a new employer compliance program.
The spring and summer have been busy ones for Jason Kenney, Minister for Employment and Social Development. In early April he announced the first businesses ever to have been blacklisted for breaching the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The media blitzkreig that followed lead within days to the complete shut down of the program for anyone in the food and beverage industry. A few weeks later an entirely new Temporary Foreign Worker Program was introduced changing the rules of the game completely and severely limiting the foreign worker program. The changes to Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) are significant and all employers who have a need for foreign labour need to know the new rules of the game.
We are constantly hearing that Canada is facing a shortage of workers and that we need to turn to immigration to satisfy the labour market needs of Canadian employers. Yet, while economists and demographers continue to chronicle Canada's labour shortage and that foreign workers are badly required to sustain our economic growth, the Government of Canada has been making numerous changes throughout this spring and summer that are of key significance to employers. Two controversial cases this past winter concerning Chinese mine workers in Northern British Columbia and the Royal Bank's termination of domestic employees while outsourcing work off shore, garnered considerable media attention. The government reacted by dramatically modifying its foreign worker program and making it tougher for employers to bring in foreign workers to Canada.
Minister Kenney delivered a one – two punch on December 10 and 11 by opening up the federal skilled trades stream for permanent residence and fast tracking the eligibility requirements for Canadian Experience Class applicants.
Sas and Ing Immigration Law Centre LLP
A partnership between Catherine Sas Law Corporation and Victor Ing Law Corporation
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