Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Visa: Tougher Requirements

Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Visa Program will see stricter requirements. Immigration Minister Kenney claims that the changes will be an improvements to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and had the following to say:

"We saw a need for clear regulations to better protect workers from poor treatment and to ensure that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program continued to address short-term labour and skills shortages," said Minister Kenney. "These regulations respond to that need and with the information being made available today, employers and workers will clearly know what is expected of them."

The changes to the Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program represent the greatest changes to the program in many years. The three major changes are as follows:

• More detailed checks on whether the job offer is genuine;
• Employers who have not adhered to the wages, working conditions and occupation criteria for the scheme will not be allowed to hire temporary foreign workers for a period of two years.
• Some temporary foreign workers will be limited to a maximum period of four years on their Canadian work visa.

"We know that the vast majority of employers treat foreign workers with respect and we recognize the importance of temporary foreign workers to employers in certain industries," said Rick Dykstra, Parliamentary Secretary to the Immigration Minister. "That's why we have also identified some workers who will be exempt from the four-year limit, such as workers who come to Canada through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and play such a critical role in the harvest across the country."

Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada job administer the program together. The intention of the program is to enable Canadian employers to recruit and employ people from abroad in shortage skills occupations.