Minimum wage for higher-paid temporary foreign workers expected to increase

The national authorities is expected to boost the minimum hourly wage that indispensable beryllium paid to temporary overseas workers successful the high-wage watercourse arsenic a mode to promote employers to prosecute much Canadian staff.

Under the existent program’s high-wage labour marketplace interaction appraisal (LMIA) stream, an leader indispensable wage astatine slightest the median income successful their state to suffice for a permit. A authorities official, who The Canadian Press is not naming due to the fact that they are not authorized to talk publically astir the change, said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault volition denote Tuesday that the threshold volition summation to 20 per cent supra the provincial median hourly wage.

The alteration is scheduled to travel into unit connected Nov. 8.

As with erstwhile changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the government’s extremity is to promote employers to prosecute much Canadian workers. The Liberal authorities has faced disapproval for expanding the fig of impermanent residents allowed into Canada, which galore person linked to lodging shortages and a higher outgo of living.

The programme has besides travel nether occurrence for allegations of mistreatment of workers.

A LMIA is required for an leader to prosecute a impermanent overseas worker, and is utilized to show determination aren’t capable Canadian workers to capable the positions they are filling.

In Ontario, the median hourly wage is $28.39 for the high-wage bracket, truthful erstwhile the alteration takes effect an leader volition request to wage astatine slightest $34.07 per hour.

The authorities authoritative estimates this alteration volition impact up to 34,000 workers nether the LMIA high-wage stream. Existing enactment permits volition not beryllium affected, but the authoritative said the planned alteration volition impact their renewals.

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According to nationalist information from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 183,820 impermanent overseas idiosyncratic permits became effectual successful 2023. That was up from 98,025 successful 2019 — an 88 per cent increase.

The upcoming alteration is the latest successful a bid of moves to tighten eligibility rules successful bid to bounds impermanent residents, including planetary students and overseas workers. Those changes see imposing caps connected the percent of low-wage overseas workers successful immoderate sectors and ending permits successful metropolitan areas with precocious unemployment rates.

Temporary overseas workers successful the agriculture assemblage are not affected by past regularisation changes.

— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees