Is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program Being Abused?
Are there jobs that Canadians just won’t do? There appears to be credible evidence that there are. But is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in its current form the most effective tool to address labour shortfalls? In the context of some systemic opportunities for the exploitation of some foreign workers and of serious unemployment here at home, it may be time for a reevaluation.
Employers looking to hire foreign workers can apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for a permit. To be successful, the assessment must find that “no Canadian worker or permanent resident is available to do the job”.
The most recent government data on the program covers the first quarter of 2025. Across Canada through those three months, a total of 21,708 LMIAs were approved, permitting Canadian employers to hire a total of 51,328 foreign workers.
Of those positions:
20,168 were for farm-related roles (harvesting and lifestock labourers, agricultural service contractors, specialized livestock workers, and nursery and greenhouse labourers)
5,348 were for the food production industry (cooks. food counter attendants, food service managers, and bakers)
3,065 went to the construction industry (carpenters, welders, installers and servicers, plasterers drywall installers and finishers, and construction trades helpers)
2,560 were for jobs in the service industry (light duty cleaners, landscaping and grounds maintenance, nurse aides orderlies, and early childhood educators and assistants)
1,995 went to office-based positions (administrative assistants, accounting technicians and bookkeepers, and retail sales supervisors)
Curiously, there were also 239 jobs opened up for foreign workers in the “professional occupations in advertising marketing and public relations” field and 362 jobs for software developers and programmers1.
Perhaps the most unsettling number from that data was the 1,526 foreign “transport truck drivers” allowed to work here for a total of 381 employers. Recent tragic events around North America involving non-compliant migrant drivers seem to highlight the existence of industry employers who ignore domestic-trained and experienced drivers in favor of migrants who will work for less and can be convinced to flagrantly bypass safety standards.
Were all those foreign truck driver permits justified? Well it’s true that, back in the first quarter of 2022 the job vacancy rate for “truck transportation” was 8.7 percent, representing 19,355 empty jobs. However, by the final quarter of 2024, the vacancy rate had dropped to just 4.0 percent (8,630 jobs). That’s a threshold where it should be very difficult to bring foreign workers in to replace Canadians.
It’s not just truckers. By Q4 2024, labour employment vacancies in building construction had also been in steep decline: from 7.4 percent all the way down to 3.2 percent. And you’ll find similar declines for “support activities for agriculture and forestry”, “nursing and residential care facilities”, and “food services and drinking places” (whose vacancies dropped more than 60 percent).
To be fair, LMIA approval numbers for those sectors were lower in Q1 2025 than in Q1 2023. Farm-related approvals dropped around 10 percent, food preparation around 30 percent, and truck drivers somewhere in the neighbourhood of 25 percent. But they clearly haven’t been keeping pace with changes in the actual job market.
This is especially true for the kinds of entry level jobs typically taken by young people for their first step into the job market. Given a 20 percent unemployment rate2 among 15-19 year olds in July 2025, does it make sense to import more than 5,000 foreign workers in just three months to take jobs in the food industry (two-thirds of which were classified as “low-wage”)?
This isn’t the first time I’ve written about immigration, ya’ know:
What Drives Canada's Immigration Policies?
Popular opposition to indiscriminate immigration has been significant and growing in many Western countries. Few in Canada deny our need for more skilled workers, and I think most of us are happy we’re providing a sanctuary for refugees escaping verifiable violence and oppression. We’re also likely united in our support for decent, hard working economic immigrants looking for better lives. But a half million new Canadians a year is widely seen as irresponsible.
Does Immigration Drive Up Canadian Housing Prices?
The Free Press recently published a fascinating article claiming that immigration is not a significant cause of housing cost increases in the U.S. I’m not sure I’m completely convinced by their arguments, but the piece immediately got me wondering about Canada. Is there a meaningful relationship between the massive waves of immigration we’ve experienced and our own skyrocketing housing costs?
The Hidden and Tragic Costs of Housing and Immigration Policies
We've discussed the housing crisis before. That would include the destabilizing combination of housing availability - in particular a weak supply of new construction - and the immigration-driven population growth.
Which is weird because I didn’t think ChatGPT required a visa to work in Canada.
Compare with an unemployment rate of just 11.9 percent in that age cohort back in July 2022
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It would appear so from anecdotal evidence, in the low wage category.
Seems most people have experienced a fast food franchise that seemed staffed with new arrivals. Or a Canadian Tire…
Lmiamap.org is a useful website that shows LMIA approvals from government data. The FAQ is useful to note the data limitations.
In my neighborhood the Dairy Queen is fully staffed with a couple TFW. They could easily staff with locals. Huge high school nearby and lots of college kids in area looking for part time.
If you use the map, and zoom in on downtown Ottawa, you learn that CBC used TFW program to hire: “professional occupation in business management consulting”,
“computer network technicians” and
“Computer programmers”
“Web designers”, and
“interactive media developers”
It beggars belief that CBC could not find qualified Canadians for these jobs.
So yeah. Outside agriculture seasonal work it seems there is rampant abuse.
I have friends who, back in the 20th century when they were high school students in the area, used to harvest tobacco in southwestern Ontario. The work was tough and their hands looked disgusting at the end of each day, but the pay was so good that none of them needed to get a student loan for university. Granted the fields that they used to work on are growing different things today (e.g. watermelons and ginseng), are we really sure that young Canadians are not interested in "farm-related role" employment?