Quebec suspends LMIA processing for select low-wage temporary foreign workers, impacting employment opportunities. Labor Market Impact Assessments for candidates in Montréal will no longer be processed starting on September 3rd for job offers with hourly wages less than the median hourly salary in Quebec, which is $27.47 CAD. The Canadian federal government has approved this suspension, which is expected to last for six months.
Together with Christine Fréchette, Quebec’s immigration minister, Quebec Premier François Legault made the announcement earlier today. The goal of the decision is to protect the integrity of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and control the number of temporary residents in the province.
Note: “Temporary resident” refers to those who are temporarily residing in Canada. Examples of such people include those who have an electronic travel authorization, a work or study permit, or a visitor visa.
These changes do not affect:
- Jobs that are not within Montréal’s economic region; Jobs that pay more than the current Quebec median wage ($27.47 CAD).
- Applications for LMIA filed before to September 3, 2024.
- As per the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), employers who are seeking for LMIAs fall into specific industry sectors. These sectors include:
- Education;
- Food processing;
- Agriculture;
- Health and social services sectors;
- Construction.
The following municipalities are included in Montréal’s administrative region:
- Pointe-Claire
- Hampstead
- Westmount
- Montréal East
- Beaconsfield
- Dollard-des-Ormeaux
- Senneville
- Mount Royal
- Baie-d’Urfé
- Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue
- Dorval
- Kirkland
- L’Île-Dorval
- Montréal
- Côte-Saint-Luc
- Montréal West
The federal government declares that when it comes to future TFWP decisions, it will closely watch this policy.
Recent examination of the TFWP in Canada
Employers in Canada are able to hire foreign workers to fill serious labor shortages that cannot be supplied domestically thanks to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. This program requires an LMIA (Labor Market Impact Assessment) in order to hire a foreign worker.
The program has recently come under fire, especially after comments made by Canada’s Ministers of Immigration and Employment.
On August 6, Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Official Languages, unveiled further regulations meant to preserve the TFWP’s integrity, paying special attention to the program’s low-wage stream.
Boissonnault has previously highlighted that the TFWP should not be used as an excuse to avoid hiring Canadian workers when they are available and voiced concern that companies may grow dependent on cheap foreign labor. Additionally, he expressed concern that the low-wage stream would be used to manipulate wages in Canada and even indicated that the ministry might cease accepting LMIA applications under it.
Marc Miller, the minister of immigration, expressed similar worries in recent remarks to Reuters.
A component of a larger set of actions
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program has recently undergone modifications that are consistent with Canada’s larger review of its temporary immigration numbers. Plans to incorporate temporary resident levels into the yearly immigration levels framework were revealed by Minister Miller in March.
IRCC has implemented a temporary two-year limit on the issue of study permits for specific international students in conjunction with this change. The new mechanism, the Provincial Attestation Letter, actively manages and limits the number of study permits issued.
Furthermore, Minister Miller has pledged to create new rules pertaining to Post-Graduation Work Permits. This involves improving domestic immigration channels by concentrating on those who are now temporary residents in Canada in order to ease their transfer to permanent residence.