On July 31, 2013, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) announced the latest changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). The changes concern mostly about Canadian employers’ application for Labour Market Opinion (LMO), with the aim to “ensure that Canadians are given the first chance at available jobs.” In this direction, significant changes are made to make it more costly and difficult for Canadian employers to look overseas for their human resources needs. Such changes including introducing an application fee for LMO, requiring a lengthier recruitment advertisement, and excluding the use of non-official languages as a justification for most LMO applications.
Below is an excerpt of the latest TFWP changes (from HRSDC website).
Fee for Labour Market Opinion processing
Effective July 31, 2013, employers applying to hire TFWs must pay a processing fee of $275 for each position requested to cover the cost of a Labour Market Opinion (LMO).
The LMO processing fee does not apply to positions under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), the Agriculture Stream or on-farm primary agricultural positions listed under National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes 8251, 8252, 8253, 8254, 8256, 8431, 8432 and 8611.
Language restriction
Effective July 31, 2013, amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations come into force which introduce subsection 203 (1.01), a new language assessment factor. As a result of this change, English and French are the only languages that can be identified as a job requirement, both in LMO requests and in advertisements by employers applying to hire TFWs, unless employers can demonstrate that another language is essential for the job.
The language restriction does not apply to positions under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), the Agriculture Stream or on-farm primary agricultural positions listed under National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes 8251, 8252, 8253, 8254, 8256, 8431, 8432 and 8611.
New advertising requirements
As of July 31, 2013, employers will need to make greater efforts to hire Canadians before they will be eligible to apply for temporary foreign workers.
The new advertising requirements do not apply to:
- the Live-in Caregiver Program;
- positions related to on-farm primary agriculture (specifically under NOC codes 8251, 8252, 8253, 8254, 8256, 8431, 8432 and 8611);
- the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program; or
- the Agriculture Stream.
New LMO application with questions on impacts on the Canadian job market
As of July 31, 2013, the LMO application includes additional questions that must be answered by the employer. These questions were added to help ensure that the TFWP is not used to facilitate the outsourcing of Canadian jobs.
For all LMOs requested, the TFWP assesses the impact that hiring a TFW will have on Canada’s job market, based on available labour market information for the region and occupation. The labour market questions will ensure that program staff has the information needed to make sound decisions regarding LMO applications.
A negative LMO will be issued if an assessment indicates that hiring a TFW will have a negative impact on the Canadian labour market or if an employer has not complied with the program requirements.
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Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Canada)