Temporary Foreign Worker Program rollback should spare agriculture

The federal government, announced several changes to Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program on Monday, including a rollback of allowable positions to "weed out TFW Program misuse and fraud."
The changes were announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, headibg into the federal cabinet meeting taking place in Halifax.
The federal government says the TFW program is designed as an extraordinary measure to be used only when qualified Canadians and permanent residents are not able to fill job vacancies, but that it's now being used by several industries, such as food service and hospitality industries to "circumvent hiring talented workers in Canada."
In response to the current employment environmt, Boissonnault said the following changes will be implemented, effective by September 26, 2024:
The Government of Canada will refuse to process Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) in the Low-Wage stream, applicable in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6 per cent or higher. Exceptions will be granted for seasonal and non-seasonal jobs in food security sectors (primary agriculture, food processing and fish processing), as well as construction and healthcare ;
Employers will be allowed to hire no more than 10 per cent of their total workforce through the TFW Program. This maximum employment percentage will be applied to the Low-Wage stream and is a further reduction from the March 2024 reduction. Exceptions will be granted for seasonal and non-seasonal jobs in food security sectors (primary agriculture, food processing and fish processing), as well as healthcare/caregiving and construction; and
The maximum duration of employment for workers hired through the Low-Wage stream will be reduced to one year (from two years).
Drew Spoelstra, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, says the federal government has made it clear that agriculture's use of the TFW program is not at risk, in the interview below.
The overall program has come under scrutiny in light of the housing crisis in Canada, however Spoelstra explains that many of the changes are to address industries that have only begun using the TFW program in the last few years, not the agri-food sector.
Within the next 90 days, further review will be undertaken of the program, the federal government says, which could result in changes to the High-Wage Stream, to existing LMIA applications for which positions have not been filled, to sectoral exceptions, or refusing to process other LMIA applications, including for rural areas.
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