Why Ontario is opting out of a federal temporary worker program

Ontario rejects Ottawa's offer to let rural employers hire more temporary foreign workers

Province cites youth unemployment, focus on domestic workforce as reasons

Ontario has rejected Ottawa's offer to let rural employers in the province hire more temporary foreign workers to fill labour needs, citing youth unemployment and a focus on its domestic workforce.

In a letter dated Thursday and seen by CBC News, Ontario Labour Minister David Piccini told Patty Hadju, Canada's minister of jobs and families, that the province's businesses are "well positioned to recruit, train and retain the many young people who are available and eager to work."

Piccini's letter said the province will focus on creating "conditions for businesses to invest, grow and create good-paying jobs for domestic workers, rather than continue policies that put employment further out of their reach."

In March, the federal government announced that it would temporarily increase the proportion of low-wage temporary foreign workers that rural employers can have on their payroll, citing persistent labour shortages.

That increase is only permitted for "eligible" rural regions and is dependent on provinces and territories opting in to the new measures, according to the March news release.

The measures will remain in effect through the end of March 2027.

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Decision political, not practical: CFIB

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said the decision by the provincial government reads as "good politics" but not good for the economy.

“There is almost no evidence to suggest that youth employment is being negatively affected by the number of temporary foreign workers that live in Ontario,” he said.

“For the most part, temporary foreign workers are filling jobs for which there are no Canadians available, [certainly] not Canadians that want those jobs.”

Canada's temporary foreign worker program came under fire following a post-COVID surge that some experts said fuelled unemployment among immigrants and young people. That prompted former prime minister Justin Trudeau to reduce the number of low-wage workers allowed into Canada to pre-pandemic levels.

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Kelly said that while he recognizes it is challenging for youth to find jobs, many of the federation's members in rural and remote locations don't get a lot of young people "willing to take the job."

"Canadian young kids, I’m sorry, they’re not signing up for jobs on farms. They’re not signing up for jobs at the meat plant, they’re not going and planting trees like decades ago in rural and remote locations," he said.

"My 17-year-old son in Toronto is not going to go and move to Timmins to take the job washing dishes in the pizza restaurant."

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Syed Hussan, executive director for the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, said the province not opting into Ottawa's proposed temporary foreign worker increase could cause a big care crisis in rural Ontario.

Hussan said many temporary foreign workers employed in sectors like health care who help take care of aging populations there "can't simply be replaced."

“The more we continue to blame migrants and push for their exclusion, or tie them to temporary status, the worse our overall economy is going to get,” he said.

Both Kelly and Hussan said the federal and provincial governments should consider creating a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship for temporary workers.

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Timothy Lang, president and CEO at Youth Employment Services, said that that it's been harder for youth to find a job than in previous years, so now may be the time to encourage them to take up rural work if they are able to.

"Historically, we know that temporary foreign workers were definitely needed in rural areas for agricultural work only because Canadians just weren't taking those jobs."

"I definitely think it's worth a try to try to get our Canadian young people to take some of those jobs."

In a statement Friday, Piccini said the decision gives Ontario workers more opportunities.

"The answer to filling in demand jobs is not expanding access to low-wage temporary foreign workers — it is ensuring Ontario workers have the skills, experience and opportunities they need to succeed."

In a statement also issued Friday, Hadju's office said the government supports the province's decision.

"Ontario's decision gives clarity to employers in Ontario about the priority that needs to be placed on domestic workers," the statement said.

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Alina Snisarenko is a Toronto-based journalist. She currently works as a digital writer for CBC Toronto and has previously worked as an associate producer with CBC Radio's Metro Morning. You can reach her with story ideas or tips at alina.snisarenko@cbc.ca.

With files from Lorenda Reddekopp